David Lammy appointed UK Dy PM as Starmer reshuffles Cabinet after Rayner’s exit

London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday appointed Foreign Secretary David Lammy as Deputy Prime Minister in a major Cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of Angela Rayner over a tax underpayment row.

Rayner, who also held the Housing Secretary portfolio, stepped down after admitting underpaying tax on a new home she recently bought on the south coast of England.

Lammy, 53, has been promoted to the post of Deputy PM with additional charge as Justice Secretary.

As part of the reshuffle, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper shifts to succeed him as Secretary of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and British Pakistani Shabana Mahmood gets elevated to the Home Office from the Ministry of Justice as part of a wide-ranging reset at the top tier of government.

Rayner, 45, a powerful leader within the Labour Party, handed in her resignation after a sped-up independent ethics inquiry concluded that she had breached the Ministerial Code of Conduct by failing to seek out specialist tax advice to ensure she paid the correct stamp duty on the property.

Starmer expressed his regret at losing his senior-most minister after Sir Laurie Magnus, his Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, informed him that his deputy cannot be considered to have met the “highest possible standards of proper conduct”and therefore was in breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

“You were right to refer yourself to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Adviser and right to act on his conclusions,” he said, in a rare hand-written letter in response to Rayner’s resignation.

“On a personal note, I am very sad to be losing you from the Government. You have been a trusted colleague and a true friend for many years. I have nothing but admiration for you and huge respect for your achievements in politics,” Starmer said, adding that she will remain a “major figure” in the Labour Party as she moves to the backbenches.

Rayner, Labour's member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne in northern England who also held the influential post of Secretary of State of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said she deeply regretted her decision to “not seek additional specialist tax advice”.

“I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount. I must also consider the significant toll that the ongoing pressure of the media is taking on my family,” she said in her resignation letter to the PM.

The letters were released by 10 Downing Street along with the letter to Starmer from Laurie Magnus, who described his conclusion as “highly unfortunate”.

“She [Rayner] believed that she relied on the legal advice she had received, but unfortunately did not heed the caution contained within it, which acknowledged that it did not constitute expert tax advice and which suggested that expert advice be sought,” he wrote.

He added: “I believe Ms Rayner has acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service. I consider, however, that her unfortunate failure to settle her SDLT [stamp duty] liability at the correct level, coupled with the fact that this was established only following intensive public scrutiny, leads me to advise you that, in relation to this matter, she cannot be considered to have met the ‘highest possible standards of proper conduct’ as envisaged by the Code.

"Accordingly, it is with deep regret that I must advise you that in these circumstances, I consider the Code to have been breached.” Earlier this week, after weeks of intense media coverage, Rayner had revealed a complex arrangement with her ex-husband over the care of her disabled son involving another property that remains a family home.

Under the stamp duty requirements for home-buyers in England, anyone buying a second property is expected to pay an additional surcharge.

Rayner had initially classified her new seaside flat in Hove as a primary residence, which would be subject to only the basic rate of stamp duty. However, given the additional family home held in trust for her son, she owed an estimated 40,000 pounds more to the tax authorities than previously calculated.