Angela Rayner dismisses calls to return her £17k payoff after Burnham brought her back into Cabinet… despite criticising Tories for taking severance

Angela Rayner has rejected calls for her earnings of nearly £17,000 to be refunded after Andy Burnham brought her back into the cabinet.

10 months after Ms Rayner resigned over unpaid taxes, she was reinstated as Housing Minister under the new Prime Minister.

The Conservatives have called on him to repay the £16,876 he received on his exit, claiming he wants the same from Tory ministers.

Ms Rayner has previously said that while “people all over the country are struggling to pay their mortgages and put food on the table”, those who are protecting their returns are displaying a “surprising lack of shame”.

But the newly appointed Cabinet minister told BBC Radio 5 Live today that his criticism was in the context of a ‘revolving door’ where ministers resign and ‘come straight back’.

Asked by presenter Matt Chorley if she would return the money, Ms Rayner said: ‘No, I was given severance pay at the time. I worked in government for a while and then left government for less than a year, so I guess that’s the timeline and I’ll be serving in government again.

‘But we’re talking weeks for the Conservatives who are getting their severance pay.

‘Some of it was even for a very short period of time, and I think the broader point about chaos and delivering services to the British people is that our focus is on not having that chaos.’

10 months after Ms Rayner resigned over unpaid taxes, she was reinstated as Housing Minister under the new Prime Minister.

Ms Rayner resigned on September 5 last year after tearfully admitting she could not afford to pay £40,000 in stamp duty on a new flat.

Official accounts from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), published last week, confirmed Ms Rayner received a £16,876 exit payment for leaving the ministry.

Ms Rayner said she had made a mistake about a ‘very specific element’ of the stamp duty rules.

‘I think people got over it and I took advice at the time, but on reflection I needed extra advice – and you know, and that was accepted when HMRC vindicated me after a thorough investigation,’ he said.

Aides insisted Ms. Rayner did not have to pay any penalties to the taxman over the case.

Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said: ‘Angela Rayner fought against tax evasion, then evaded tax on her home, tried to cover it up and was forced to resign in disgrace.

‘He pocketed the £17,000 reward thanks to the taxpayer and is now back in his old job thanks to his friend Andy Burnham, who wants to raise taxes on the family home for everyone else. Rayner must return the money. His reappointment confirms that there is one rule for Labor and another for everyone else.’

Government ministers are entitled to severance pay of 25 percent of their annual salary when they leave office and are not reappointed within three weeks.

Ms Rayner’s earnings were a quarter of the £67,505 annual ministerial salary she was paid on top of the £98,599 annual salary she received as MP for Ashton-under-Lyne.

It is not yet known whether Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell, who was appointed Education Secretary by Mr Burnham on Monday, accepted severance pay when she was sacked as Leader of the House of Commons by Sir Keir in September last year.

John Healey and Wes Streeting are the other two figures to return to cabinet under Mr Burnham, and both had left Sir Keir’s administration in recent weeks.

Following an update to ministerial regulations by Sir Keir in October last year, former ministers who are reappointed as ministers within three months are expected to forgo their salaries for the period coinciding with the severance pay period.

This would apply to both Mr Healey and Mr Streeting if they accept severance pay when they leave their roles as defense minister and health minister respectively under Sir Keir.

A further change, made in October 2025, a month after Ms Rayner’s resignation, states that ministers are expected to waive severance pay if they commit ‘serious breaches’ of the ministerial code.

Ms Rayner has been brought back to the political front by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham

Official accounts from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), published last week, confirmed Ms Rayner received a £16,876 exit payment for leaving the ministry

In a ruling on Ms Rayner’s stamp duty controversy, Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial interests, said Ms Rayner had breached the rules by failing to meet the “highest possible standards of appropriate behaviour”.

When news of the severance pay later emerged, a spokesman for Ms Rayner said: ‘There is a world of difference between making an honest mistake and a serious breach of the ministerial code.

‘Once the independent ethics consultant’s investigation concluded, Angela acted with integrity and an exemplary commitment to public service.’