Lord Ashcroft has called on Angela Rayner to use her planned autobiography to set the record straight over her complicated housing arrangments.
The former deputy Prime Minister confirmed last week that she has signed a deal to write an ‘authentic’ book about her rise from working class roots to the Cabinet – and then her resignation amid the scandal over her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside home in Hove.
The ghostwritten memoir, which could earn her a six-figure advance, comes amid intense speculation over Sir Keir Starmer’s political future and her own leadership ambitions.
Lord Ashcroft, the former Conservative deputy chairman, revealed in a biography of Ms Rayner last year that she made a £48,500 profit on an ex-council house she bought in 2007 thanks to the right-to-buy policy she now wants to reform.
She became known as ‘Two Homes Rayner’ last year after The Mail On Sunday then revealed that she had shuttled between the hosue and another right-to-buy council properties early in her marriage, with neighbours claiming that she rented out her house while living in her then husband’s property.
A police investigation concluded that no criminal offences had occurred, but Lord Ashcroft said yesterday that questions remained.
Lord Ashcroft has called on Angela Rayner to use her planned autobiography to set the record straight over her complicated housing arrangments
Ms Rayner resigned as deputy prime minister amid the scandal over her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside home in Hove
He told the MoS: ‘Angela Rayner failed to answer straightforward questions concerning apparently conflicting pieces of information listed on public documents.
‘And instead of responding, a Labour spokesman acting on her behalf used a statement to launch a personal attack on me – while falsely accusing me of smearing her.’
He added: ‘I would like to take this opportunity to say that I, for one, look forward to reading in Angela Rayner’s forthcoming autobiography a full account of her living arrangements and property interests going back to 2007.
‘I would also like to remind Rayner’s ghostwriter that my book stuck solely to the facts detailed on public documents in this regard. No accusations or smears were made. Legitimate questions were asked, but satisfactory answers were not supplied’.
