Angela Rayner has said she will not repay a severance payment of almost £17,000 received after leaving government in 2025, despite returning to the Cabinet as Andy Burnham’s housing secretary. The issue matters because Rayner had previously criticised Conservative ministers for accepting similar payments after brief periods in office, prompting Conservative calls for her to return the money.

Rayner resigned as housing secretary, deputy prime minister and deputy Labour Party leader amid a dispute over her tax affairs, although HMRC later cleared her of wrongdoing. She told BBC Radio 5 Live that the payment was made when she left government and that she had then spent just under a year out of office; the payment was equivalent to roughly a quarter of an annual ministerial salary.