Angela Rayner has been accused of neglecting her constituency after she bought a seaside home 250 miles away.
Neighbours in the Greater Manchester town she represents say they no longer see Labour’s Housing Secretary, who now owns an £800,000 flat on the South Coast and enjoys the use of a grace-and-favour apartment in Westminster.
James Lee, who lives next door to Ms Rayner in Ashton-under-Lyne, wants to catch her at home so he can ask her to do something about the 70ft tree that towers above his garden.
The 82-year-old said he has not spoken to the Deputy Prime Minister for as long as two years.
He told the Daily Mail she had assured him her beech, copper beech and apple trees had been checked and were ‘safe’ – but took no further action.
Now, the retired engineer said the trees are so tall he has no light in his garden until after 2pm.
Mr Lee accused the Labour politician of ‘running away from her responsibilities’, adding: ‘She’s never here.’
A woman living opposite Ms Rayner added: ‘I can’t remember the last time I saw her.
Angela Rayner (pictured) has been accused of neglecting her constituency after she bought a seaside home 250 miles away
Neighbours in the Greater Manchester town she represents (pictured, Ms Rayner’s home there) say they no longer see Labour’s Housing Secretary
James Lee (pictured), who lives next door to Ms Rayner in Ashton-under-Lyne, wants to catch her at home so he can ask her to do something about the 70ft tree that towers above his garden
‘I know she’s in London a lot but to have another new home in Hove is a long way from her roots and the people who elect her.’
Ms Rayner, 45, has only mentioned Ashton-under-Lyne twice on social media since the general election last July.
Her ex-husband, trade union official Mark Rayner, with whom she has two children, is believed to live in her Victorian villa in the town, worth an estimated £650,000.
After refusing to say which was her main residence amid a row over where she was paying council tax, sources close to Ms Rayner said the Ashton-under-Lyne property was her declared ‘main residence’.
They added that she will pay second-home double-rate council tax – introduced by Labour earlier this year – on her new seaside property in Hove.
The £2,034 council-tax bill for her grace-and-favour Admiralty House apartment is picked up by the taxpayer.
Asked whether Ms Rayner could properly represent Ashton-under-Lyne if, as he claims, she rarely ventures to the area, Mr Lee said: ‘I wouldn’t have thought so.
‘To do that job, you’ve got to be here. It does disappoint me as a constituent.’
Ms Rayner now owns an £800,000 flat on the South Coast, in Hove, East Sussex. Pictured: File photo of residential buildings in the seaside town
She also enjoys the use of a grace-and-favour apartment in Westminster. Pictured: File photo of the Old Admiralty Building, with Admiralty House, right, where Ms Rayner’s flat is
Mr Lee (pictured), her 82-year-old next door neighbour in Ashton-under-Lyne, said he has not spoken to the Deputy Prime Minister for as long as two years
Sources close to Ms Rayner sad she will pay second-home double-rate council tax – introduced by Labour earlier this year – on her new seaside property in Hove (pictured, an estate agent’s image of the interior)
A source close to Ms Rayner said: ‘Angela’s been proudly representing her constituents at Westminster for more than a decade…
‘Her role as Deputy Prime Minister means she has to be in and near London more regularly for work, but she’s at home in Ashton-under-Lyne often and makes no secret of the fact she loves her garden.’
It is thought that she has already given permission for her neighbour to cut back her trees.
There is no specific right to light but disputes over neighbours’ trees can be subject to Labour’s Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.
It allows councils to resolve disputes about a line of trees at least 6ft 6in high that block out a neighbour’s light.
