Downing Street has just published a full list of other ministers who are changing roles.

Separately, Downing Street notes that Angela Rayner has left government, as has Lucy Powell and Ian Murray.

This liveblog is now closing, but there’s plenty more coverage for you here:

Shabana Mahmood has broken her silence after being appointed Home Secretary.

A picture of Angela Rayner was seen on a billboard advertising a job site in Westminster this evening following her resignation.

Yvette Cooper has spoken publicly for the first time since being named the UK’s new foreign secretary.

Posting on X, the former home secretary says it’s a ‘huge honour’ to take the job, adding that UK diplomacy ‘has never been more important’.

The Liberal Democrats have criticised Sir Keir’s Starmer’s ministerial reshuffle.

Sir Ed Davey said: ‘If Labour believes that having a reshuffle will solve the deep-rooted problems of this government, they are learning the wrong lessons from the calamity Conservatives before them.’

The Lib Dem leader added: ‘Until Keir Starmer is ready to grab the bull by the horns and confront the problems our country really faces, it makes little difference who sits where around the Cabinet table.’

British hard-right leader Nigel Farage rallied his insurgent Reform party at the start of its annual conference Friday, seizing on the Labour government’s woes to insist his movement could seize power within two years.

Addressing thousands of supporters in Birmingham, central England, Farage said the earlier resignation of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner showed the government is ‘deep in crisis’ and that his poll-leading party ‘must be ready’ for office.

Although the next general election is not due for four years, the 61-year-old – who rebranded his Brexit Party as immigration-fixated Reform in 2021 – predicted Labour’s struggles could force a contest far sooner.

‘There is every chance now of a general election happening in 2027 and we must be ready for that moment,’ he told the crowd of Reform elected officials and members as the two-day event got underway.

Reeling off a list of issues – from record-high immigration in recent years to sluggish economic growth and alleged free speech curbs – Farage argued the UK was ‘in the most dangerous place it’s been in my lifetime’.

‘We are the last chance… to get this country back on track.’

Reform gathered in Birmingham buoyant after wins in May local elections and leading in most polls over the last six months, prompting a growing number of people to eye Farage as prime minister-in-waiting.

Shadow secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Cleverly, writes on X: ‘So many sideways moves in this reshuffle.

‘Starmer can’t claim it’s about promoting new talent, or about removing dead wood.

‘So it can only be that he put people into the wrong jobs last year.’

All Great Offices of State other than the Prime Minister are now held by women for the first time.

Shabana Mahmood is the new Home Secretary, while Yvette Cooper becomes Foreign Secretary. They join Rachel Reeves, who stays in place as Chancellor.

Labour has still never had a female prime minister, while the Conservatives have had three in Margaret Thatcher, Baroness May and Liz Truss.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said Labour faces a ‘civil war’ over its vacant deputy leadership role.

She wrote on X: ‘Phase two of Starmer’s Government didn’t even last three days.

‘He was too weak to fire the Deputy Prime Minister, even after he was told she broke the ministerial code, and now he’s shuffling deckchairs around on his sinking government.

‘The Labour Party is now engaged in a civil war for its deputy leadership. All of which will be an enormous distraction from the problems facing Britain, with the cost of borrowing reaching its highest point in decades, and inflation and unemployment rising.

‘Only the Conservatives under new leadership are committed to tackling the deficit, living within our means and cutting government spending.’

David Lammy has just provided his reaction to his new appointment as deputy prime minster, a post he takes over following the resignation of his colleague, Angela Rayner.

He says in an X post: ‘It is the honour of my life to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary by Keir Starmer.

‘Ever since I was a boy growing up in Tottenham, I’ve been determined to help make this country fairer, safer and better off.’

Lammy also pays homage to his predecessor, praising Rayner for the ‘tremendous job’ she did in government.

Earlier it was understood that the newly-appointed foreign secretary was heading to Downing Street from her constituency in Yorkshire.

Cooper, home secretary until just a few hours ago, has just been spotted arriving at No 10.

Cooper will succeed Lammy as foreign minister, with Shabana Mahmood replacing her as home secretary.

Labour peer Baroness Ayesha Hazarika has spoken out in the wake of Angela Rayner’s dramatic resignation.

The baroness said there is ‘no way to sweeten this pill’, adding Rayner’s departure is a ‘huge blow’ to the Party.

Just a week before news broke of the Deputy Prime Minister’s resignation Baroness Hazarika told Times Radio ‘there was serious talk of Angela Rayner potentially becoming prime minister at some point’ if ‘things continued to be wobbly’.

Even Angela Rayner’s political opponent, the former Conservative minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, spoke highly of her, saying that the former deputy prime minister was a ‘leader in waiting for Labour’.

Admitting ‘Nigel won’t appreciate this,’ he told Times Radio that Rayner and the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, operated in a similar way, saying they shared their talents for speaking to voters and appearing ‘to be very real people’.

He added: ‘Losing Angela is, I think, a big blow to the Labour Party, who are all such dullards in comparison to her.’

The new Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is returning from her constituency in Yorkshire, the BBC reports, and is expected in Downing Street later this evening.

Downing Street has now confirmed Sir Keir Starmer’s first Cabinet reshuffle is complete.

Peter Kyle has been made the new business secretary.

The Hove and Portslade MP previously was serving as the science and technology secretary, and spent a lot of his time in the role, focussing on AI.

But he will now lead the Department for Business and Trade.

Sky News reports that the current business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will be moved and stay in cabinet – but it’s not clear yet where he is going.

Peter Kyle leaves 10 Downing Street earlier this year

The new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has arrived at Downing Street after being promoted from justice secretary.

She smiled as she walked up to No 10, but didn’t speak to reporters

David Lammy has been pictured arriving in Downing Street following his move to Justice Secretary from the Foreign Office.

Mr Lammy will also assume the role of Deputy Prime Minister following Angela Rayner’s resignation earlier today.

Steve Reed will replace Angela Rayner as Housing Secretary, the PA News agency is reporting.

Mr Reed had been serving in the Cabinet as Environment Secretary.

Following the Prime Minister’s reshuffle this afternoon, the BBC is reporting it marks the first time the holders of the three great offices of state beyond PM, notably the Chancellor, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary, are all women.

Pat McFadden will take over the Department for Work and Pensions Secretary as part of a new role, according to the BBC.

He is said to be heading up a new ‘super ministry’ department incorporating the skills brief which currently sits with the Department for Education with the overall task of driving economic growth.

Keir Starmer tore up his failing Cabinet today as panic engulfed Labour after Angela Rayner’s dramatic exit.

The PM is moving Yvette Cooper from the Home Office in an apparent admission that borders policy needs an overhaul, after a torrid summer of migration protests.

Meanwhile, Liz Kendall is going from the Department of Work and Pensions to the science brief – having overseen the disastrous winter fuel allowance cuts and abortive effort to curb the benefits bill.

Meanwhile, David Lammy is thought to have been demoted from the Foreign Office to Justice, despite Downing Street previously guaranteeing he would stay in that job. Shabana Mahmood looks set to take over at Home Affairs.

The extraordinary scale of the changes has sent Westminster into shock.

Read the full story here:

The Prime Minister has been busy shaking up his frontbench following Angela Rayner’s departure earlier today.

Here’s all the moves so far:

Swapping jobs

Dismissed

This post will be regularly updated

The BBC has reported Yvette Cooper will take over as Foreign Secretary while David Lammy will be appointed the Justice Secretary and take on the deputy prime minister role.

It is being reported multiple Cabinet ministers are being moved to different jobs as part of Keir Starmer’s reshuffle.

It is believed David Lammy could move to Justice Secretary.

Shabana Mahmood could be given the Home Secretary brief.

And Yvette Cooper takes up the Foreign Secretary role.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has described Angela Rayner as a ‘trailblazing’ Cabinet minister and a ‘role model to millions’.

Mr Khan is among a number of Labour politicians who have paid tribute to the now former deputy prime minister.

Some voters in Angela Rayner’s constituency in Ashton-under-Lyne had called for her to resign from the Government following her tax admission.

Here’s the reaction in her constituency before she quit the frontbench earlier today.

Watch our video below:

Ian Murray has now released a statement following his dismissal as Scotland Secretary.

He said he was ‘hugely disappointed’ to be leaving Government but pledged to support Sir Keir Starmer from the backbenches.

Mr Murray has represented Edinburgh South since 2010 – and was the only Scottish Labour MP left in Westminster after the party’s 2019 general election defeat.

A critic of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Murray has campaigned against Scottish independence and won the backing of Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown during an unsuccessful bid for the Labour deputy leadership in 2020.

Read his statement below:

Nigel Farage today claimed his Reform UK party are on course for power as he branded Labour ‘not fit to govern’ in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation.

The Reform leader used his keynote address at his party’s conference in Birmingham to twist the knife into Labour’s wounds following the Deputy Prime Minister’s exit.

Mr Farage brought his speech forward by three hours from its previously-scheduled time after news broke of Ms Rayner’s bombshell departure from the Government.

He said Sir Keir Starmer’s administration was ‘deep in crisis’ after Ms Rayner’s downfall forced the Prime Minister into a frantic Cabinet reshuffle.

Mr Farage even raised the prospect of Sir Keir being forced into an early general election in two years’ time amid the turmoil within Labour.

Keir Starmer kicked off another desperate reshuffle today after Angela Rayner was finally forced to quit over her tax affairs.

The PM is taking a knife to his team just days after he tried to launch a Labour ‘Phase 2’ following a torrid summer and consistently dire polls.

Sir Keir has been left scrambling to stabilise his government following the departure of Ms Rayner from her posts of Deputy PM, Housing Secretary and deputy Labour leader.

Standards watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus concluded that Ms Rayner had tried to act with ‘integrity’ but still fell short of the standards required in government, failing to pay tens of thousands of pounds of stamp duty.

In a letter to Sir Keir, Ms Rayner stressed the ‘strain’ that the furore had put on her family. She said she ‘deeply regretted’ not having sought expert tax advice – even though she had received an explicit recommendation to do so.

Lucy Powell has released a statement confirming she has been sacked from the Government.

The Manchester Central MP had served as the Leader of the House of Commons.

In a statement, she said:

Earlier this year Powell made a House of Commons apology following claims she ‘belittled’ rape survivors with her comments about grooming gangs.

She sparked fury by suggesting during a BBC Radio 4 radio show that group-based child abuse was a ‘dog whistle’ issue.

She faced calls to resign over the remarks, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer backed her after accepting her apology.

Keir Starmer has reportedly sacked two Cabinet ministers, Lucy Powell and Ian Murray, as he shuffles his front bench following Angela Rayner’s resignation.

Ms Powell has served as leader of the House of Commons and Mr Murray is the Scotland Secretary.

Sky News has reported the first departures from the frontbench as part of a shake-up to respond to Ms Rayner’s resignation.

Graffiti daubed outside Ms Rayner’s apartment building in Hove

Locals gathered outside Angela Rayner’s seaside flat in Hove discussed ‘mixed feelings’ about the outgoing deputy prime minister.

‘She was very busy and when you are busy you don’t always use common sense,’ said Ann, who is from Australia but lives in the UK.

The group echoed that it was a ‘shame’ but agreed with Ann that ‘£40,000 is an awful lot of money for some people’.

They added that they thought Ms Rayner was telling the truth and that it was ‘hard to tell’ if she was responsible for the mistake.

‘I think it’s most unfortunate the whole thing,’ said Elaine, 88, who has lived in Hove since she was 11.

Others in the area have been much less charitable, shaking their heads at the mention of Ms Rayner and calling for her to be sacked.

Another local, Paul, said:

by Dan Hodges, Daily Mail columnist

Angela Rayner’s resignation is a personal tragedy for her. But it’s a political catastrophe for Keir Starmer.

There is no love lost between the North London barrister and the former union rep from Stockport.

But political necessity had thrown them together. In the same way John Prescott gave a little working class street-cred to Tony Blair’s New Labour crusade, so Rayner leant some Red Wall authenticity to Starmer’s otherwise sterile political project.

With her demise Starmer’s slender grip on Labour’s disillusioned base has been severed.

Read the full article by the Daily Mail’s political columnist Dan Hodges below:

Angela Rayner taking Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this year

Cabinet ministers are paying personal tributes to Angela Rayner following her resignation earlier today.

Here’s a snapshot of some statements released by the frontbench this afternoon on social media:

Darren Jones, who was made the Prime Minister’s chief secretary on Monday, said:

Angela Rayner’s resignation as deputy prime minister has also triggered the prospect of an internal Labour election battle to succeed her as deputy leader of the party.

In her role as Deputy PM, Ms Rayner was widely viewed as a bridge between the more left wing grassroots of Labour and the right of the party which has greater sway over Sir Keir’s Downing Street operation.

The party now finds itself with the prospect of having to elect a new deputy leader, a person who will not necessarily also take up the role of deputy prime minister.

The contest could see the divide between different factions of Labour – and their positions on Sir Keir’s track record in No 10 – brought into the public eye.

The prospect of such a contest will prove a further challenge to Sir Keir, who only at the start of this week initiated a reset of his No 10 operation and claimed the Government was moving on to its second ‘phase’.

Details of when and how the deputy leadership election will be held are understood to be announced in due course, in line with Labour’s rules and procedures.

Watch our reporter explain why Angela Rayner resigned from the Government today in a major blow to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer:

Nigel Farage said Angela Rayner’s resignation over her tax affairs ‘screams to entitlement’.

Speaking on stage at the Reform conference, Mr Farage said:

He said he had brought forward his keynote speech at Reform UK’s party conference after Ms Rayner’s resignation because the Government is ‘deep in crisis’ and ‘not fit to govern;.

He said Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet was full of ‘wholly unqualified people’ and joked about Ms Rayner being ‘an accomplished property developer and speculator’.

Former shadow cabinet ministers Emily Thornberry and Rosena Allin-Khan have been touted as possible frontrunners to succeed Angela Rayner as Deputy Prime Minister.

According to political commentators, the upcoming Labour Party Conference will likely see a parade of candidates hoping to be elected as Labour’s deputy leader.

To enter the race, nominees must be a Labour MP and requite 20% of support from the parliamentary party and either 5% of local Labour parties or 5% of support from trade unions.

A vote will be given to all members and affiliated supporters.

Angela Rayner’s former family home was valued higher than neighbouring properties which went on the market when she sold her share in it to fund the purchase of a lavish seaside flat, it has been claimed.

The former deputy prime mister, who quit the government this morning, sold a 25 per cent stake in the Ashton-under-Lyne property for £162,500 to a trust established for her disabled son earlier this year, based on a valuation of £650,000 for the whole house.

This money was used to fund the apartment in Hove – which led to a major scandal this week when Ms Rayner admitted she underpaid stamp duty by £40,000.

She quit today after an ethics probe found that she breached the ministerial code of conduct, failing to adequately check she was paying the correct amount.

The £650,000 valuation for the four-bedroom house has already raised eyebrows, as it is exactly the threshold for inheritance tax becoming payable on personal assets.

But analysis of recent sale prices in the area of Greater Manchester, where Ms Rayner has been the MP since 2015, suggest it is also far higher than the value of similar properties nearby.

An online valuation tool on the Website Rightmove values the Rayner property at £565,000.

The most expensive sale of a house within a mile of the Ashton property in the past year was £561,000, which was a five-bedroom semi.

The most recent sale of a four-bed detached house within a mile of her property was in May this year, when it fetched £425,000.

by James Tapsfield and Greg Heffer

Keir Starmer was plunged into chaos today as Angela Rayner dramatically quit after breaking the ministerial code by failing to pay tens of thousands of pounds in tax.

Ms Rayner has left her posts as Deputy PM, Housing Secretary and deputy Labour leader after standards watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus delivered his verdict.

Sir Laurie concluded that Ms Rayner had tried to act with ‘integrity’ but still fell short of the highest standards required in government.

In a letter to Sir Keir, she stressed the ‘strain’ that the furore had put on her family. She said she ‘deeply regretted’ not having sought expert tax advice on her stamp duty liability – even though she had received an explicit recommendation to do so.

Downing Street released a handwritten response from the premier saying he was ‘sad’ about the circumstances because Ms Rayner has ‘given her all’, but it was the ‘right decision’.

Read the full story here:

Angela Rayner is the 11th person to leave the Labour Government since the general election in July 2024.

Here is the full list:

Sir Keir Starmer is now expected to start a major reshuffle of his top team in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation.

The Prime Minister needs to appoint a Housing Secretary and a leadership contest will be underway to become the deputy leader – a position usually decided by an election.

Sky News is reporting Rachel Reeves will remain in place as Chancellor.

This all comes less than a week after Starmer attempted a ‘phase two’ relaunch of his Government which is already deeply unpopular in the polls.

Nigel Farage has brought forward his leader’s speech at the Reform UK conference in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation as deputy prime minister.

The Reform leader will speak at 1pm, three hours earlier than previously expected.

Mr Farage has said there will be ‘splits’ within Labour when it begins the process to elect a new deputy leader.

In a video posted on X, Mr Farage said Ms Rayner’s departure was ‘inevitable’.

by Quentin Letts

Amid a Cabinet of dull mumblers, Angela Rayner was the gallivanting, eye-flashing exception. Sir Keir Starmer praised her ‘working-class background’ but actually that wasn’t so rare, even in the modern Labour party.

What was unusual about Mrs Rayner, and what made her so essential to the joyless Starmerites, was her unbridled greed for life.

Whereas Sir Keir and his circle spoke in atonal cliches, Mrs Rayner bellowed the rhythms of ordinary, aspirational Britain.

Apart from the health secretary, Wes Streeting, she was the only person around Sir Keir’s cabinet table who sounded non-political. In a country heartily sick of its political class, that was a godsend.

Read more here:

In a letter responding to Angela Rayner’s resignation, the Prime Minister said:

Angela Rayner told Keir Starmer she decided to resign from the Government following ‘significant’ pressure on her family.

In a tearful interview on Wednesday, Ms Rayner said she had spoken to relatives about walking away following intense scrutiny of her tax affairs.

In her resignation letter published online, the former deputy leader said:

Keir Starmer has described Angela Rayner as a ‘trusted colleague and true friend’ in a handwritten note shared by Downing Street following her resignation.

Starmer began the note by thanking Rayner for informing him of her decision to resign from the government, adding he is ‘very sad that your time as deputy prime minister, secretary of state and deputy leader of the Labour Party has ended in this way’.

In the letter he also thanks her for her work as Housing Secretary and for her work in the Employment Rights Bill.

Sir Keir Starmer has told Angela Rayner ‘you will remain a major figure in our party’ and will ‘continue to fight for the causes you care so passionately about’ as she resigned.

We will bring you more on the Prime Minister’s reaction when we get it.

Angela Rayner has shared her resignation letter on her X page after she was found to have breached the ministerial code.

Ms Rayner said she regretted her actions and took full responsibility after she failed to seek specialist advice over the level of stamp duty she should pay.

She added serving in the Government after being a teenage mum in a Stockport council estate was the ‘greatest honour’ in her life.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministerial interests, said:

Angela Rayner has told the Prime Minister in a letter that ‘I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice’ and takes ‘full responsibility for this error’ as she resigned as Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Secretary and deputy leader of the Labour Party.

Ethics watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus said Angela Rayner had ‘acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service’ but concluded she breached the ministerial code over her tax affairs.

Angela Rayner’s departure is another massive blow for the PM, already struggling to stabilise his government after a torrid summer of immigration protests.

She has also resigned as deputy Labour leader – a separate elected post – triggering what could be a deeply divisive contest.

Bizarrely, even as Ms Rayner’s demise emerged this morning the PM’s official spokesman was still insisted Sir Keir had ‘full confidence’ in her.

Confirming that Sir Keir had received the report from Sir Laurie, the spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister will read it and act upon it. He has a reputation for being comprehensive and quick.’

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said ‘Britain deserves better’ as she reacts to Angela Rayner’s resignation from the Government.

The Conservative leader posted the following tweet on her X account.

Angela Rayner dramatically exited the Cabinet today after a sleaze report into her property dealings.

Ms Rayner is understood to be leaving her post as Deputy PM after Sir Laurie Magnus delivered his verdict to Keir Starmer.

The crucial moment came after furious lawyers accused Ms Rayner of trying to make them ‘scapegoats’ for her underpaying tens of thousands of pounds in stamp duty.

Ms Rayner’s hold on her job had been looking increasingly tenuous after Sir Keir refused to rule out sacking her yesterday, insisting he would ‘act’ on the findings from Sir Laurie.

The departure is another massive blow for the PM, already struggling to stabilise his government after a torrid summer of immigration protests. While he can remove Ms Rayner from Cabinet, she has a separate elected mandate as Labour’s deputy leader.

Read more here:

Angela Rayner will leave the Government, according to the PA news agency and Sky News.

The Deputy PM’s departure is not yet official.

Sir Keir Starmer has now received the report into Angela Rayner’s tax affairs by his ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus.

The PM is set to determine Ms Rayner’s future after she referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards earlier this week.

Angela Rayner is expected to leave the Government today, according to reports.

Sky News and The Times are reporting a decision has been made on the Deputy PM’s future and that she will no longer serve in Keir Starmer’s administration.

We will bring you official news when we can.

Conservative Kemi Badenoch immediately demanded the Prime Minister sack Ms Rayner and challenged him to show a ‘backbone’, although her performance at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, just minutes after the admission was made public, was criticised by some political commentators as ineffective.

She said:

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said Rayner had the summer celebrating her growing ‘property empire’

Leader Sir Ed Davey offered a more sympathetic response to Ms Rayner, suggesting that while her position may be untenable as a result of the ethics investigation, she may have been guided by her disabled child’s interests.

He said:

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice said Ms Rayner’s position was ‘completely indefensible’.

He said:

Leader Nigel Farage added he could not see how Ms Rayner survived the scandal while in Washington DC earlier this week

Angela Rayner’s stamp duty scandal has sparked a disparaging AI video where she is transformed into a brash rapper who declares: ‘Starmer blushing, I’m still fine, you pay full tax, I skip the line’.

With her political career on the precipice, the Deputy Prime Minister is lampooned in a viral skit entitled: ‘How Many Homes Can Rayner Buy?’

Ms Rayner, 45, who is shown wearing a fur coat over a tracksuit, is also shown flashing wad of cash – a nod to the £40,000 she belatedly admitted to underpaying in stamp duty on a £800,000 seaside flat she bought in Hove in May.

In the computer-generated video, now viewed by hundreds of thousands of people online in the past 24 hours, Rayner raps: ‘Bought me one house, bought me two; flip another flat, taxman no clue; £80K saved with a Brighton tan; Dodgin’ more duty than the average man’.

The AI-inspired Angela adds while at the despatch box: ‘How many homes, I’ll name ’em all; Big Ange dancin’ in the Commons hall; Taxman cryin’, Rayner smilin’; One rule for me, none for thee!’.

Sir Keir Starmer indicated he is ready to sack Ms Rayner if she has broken the ministerial code.

The Prime Minister vowed to ‘act on whatever the report is’ into his deputy’s tax affairs, but refused to guarantee her dismissal five times.

Watch our video below:

On Wednesday, Ms Rayner gave a tearful interview to Sky News in which she laid the blame for her troubles on her lawyers.

But last night, that version of events was dealt a serious blow by Verrico & Associates, based in Herne Bay, Kent, which issued a bombshell statement saying it had calculated the stamp duty ‘strictly based on the facts and information provided to us’ – and that it did not offer tax advice.

Mrs Verrico (pictured above), who founded the practice in 1994 assisted by her three daughters, told the Telegraph:

We acted for Ms Rayner when she purchased the flat in Hove. We did not and never have given tax or trust advice. It’s something we always refer our clients to an accountant or tax expert for.

The stamp duty for the Hove flat was calculated using HMRC’s own online calculator based on the figures and the information provided by Ms Rayner. That’s what we used and it told us we had to pay £30,000 based on the information provided to us.

We believe that we did everything correctly and in good faith. Everything was exactly as it should be.

We probably are being made scapegoats for all this and I have got the arrows stuck in my back to show it. We are not an inexperienced firm, but we’re not qualified to give advice on trust and tax matters and we advise clients to seek expert advice on these.

It is understood Ms Rayner is arguing she received at least three pieces of legal advice, including from a trust overseeing her disabled son’s affairs as well as from a conveyancer, supporting her initial position.

But she has yet to reveal if any other lawyer gave her further advice to support her claim she had gone through proper channels and been misadvised.

MFG Solicitors of Kidderminster, which was involved in conveyancing at her family home in Ashton-under-Lyne, said it ‘did not act for Ms Rayner in the purchase of her property in Hove, nor did we provide any tax-related advice in relation to it’. And law firm Shoosmiths, which previously acted for her, also ruled itself out.

As the mystery grew over her flat purchase last week, Ms Rayner sought advice from a tax barrister – who told her this week that she had been wrong not to pay the higher amount of stamp duty, prompting her mea culpa on Wednesday.

Dan Neidle, a tax expert who has advised the Labour Party, tweeted: ‘It’s looking increasingly like Ms Rayner didn’t actually obtain tax advice before this week.’

So far Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, has refused to say which firms she consulted before the Hove transaction.

It’s been a busy week for Angela Rayner who today could learn her political fate as an ethics report into her tax affairs is delivered.

Let’s take a look back at how her confession unfolded:

Angela Rayner has been dubbed ‘Three Pads’ Rayner following her purchase of a flat in Hove.

She is said to have saved £40,000 in stamp duty on the apartment because she removed her name from the deeds of a family property in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester.

The deed changes supposedly allowed Ms Rayner to pay £30,000 in stamp duty instead of £70,000, which would have been applied if the Hove property was her second home.

Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, she said:

Following her emotional TV interview in which she admitted not paying enough stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside property in Hove, Angela Rayner released a statement setting out events leading up to this week.

Dissecting her words into important dates, let’s take a look at how we got where we are today:

Rayner explains a trust was set up for her son as a premature baby following a ‘deeply personal and distressing incident’ which has left him with life-long disabilities.

Rayner said interest in her family home in Ashton-under-Lyne was transferred to the trust. Following her divorce in the same year, Ms Rayner said she and her ex-husband agreed to a ‘nesting arrangement’ where their children remained in the family home while the parents lived there at alternate times. She says this home remains her family home.

Rayner said she sold her remaining interest in the Ashton property to her son’s trust, thereby allowing him the ‘security of knowing the home is his’. She maintains the Ashton property remains her family home.

Rayner said she bought the Hove property with the proceeds from her stake in the Ashton property. She said she was told by her lawyers she was liable for the ‘standard rate’ of stamp duty but after seeking further advice discovered she was subject to ‘additional liabilities’ because of what she described as ‘complex deeming provisions’ related to her son’s trust.

Angela Rayner is facing a moment of truth as soon as today with Keir Starmer’s sleaze adviser preparing to give his verdict on her property dealings.

Sir Laurie Magnus could deliver his report on the deputy PM after furious lawyers accused her of trying to make them ‘scapegoats’ for her underpaying tens of thousands of pounds in stamp duty.

Ms Rayner’s hold on her job is looking increasingly tenuous after Sir Keir refused to rule out sacking her yesterday, insisting he would ‘act’ on the findings from Sir Laurie.

The situation is particularly difficult for the PM as while he can remove Ms Rayner from Cabinet, she has a separate elected mandate as Labour’s deputy leader.

Senior figures have been rallying around Ms Rayner since her extraordinary admission that she had failed to pay enough stamp duty, suggesting she is being persecuted for her working class background.

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Mail’s live coverage as Angela Rayner awaits the verdict of Keir Starmer’s ethics adviser into her tax affairs.

The Deputy Prime Minister admitted this week she had not paid enough stamp duty on a £800,000 property she purchased in Hove earlier this year.

The Prime Minister has been urged to sack Ms Rayner, who has previously called for the resignations of Conservative MPs for tax avoidance, while some allies have rallied around her.

Ms Rayner referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, who is investigating whether she broke the ministerial code, following her admission.

His verdict could be delivered today and may present Keir Starmer with a huge decision as he ultimately makes the final determination on Ms Rayner’s future.

Stick with us for live updates throughout the day plus all the reaction if the report is later released.