Andy Burnham has insisted he will not be involved in the police investigation into Angela Rayner.
The Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester confirmed he will not take part amid concerns about a potential conflict of interest as he has political oversight of the force carrying out the probe.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is investigating whether Labour’s deputy leader broke electoral law after allegations she may have given false information about her main residence a decade ago.
Ms Rayner has also faced questions over whether she should have paid capital gains tax on the 2015 sale of her former council house in Stockport due to confusion over whether it was her principal residency.
Asked if Mr Burnham would commit not to take a public stance on the issue, a spokesman said: “In line with established practice and for the avoidance of doubt, neither the Mayor nor the deputy mayor have had, nor will have, any involvement in this investigation. It is a purely operational matter for GMP.”
Chris Clarkson, the Tory MP for Heywood and Middleton, said it was important Mr Burnham “does not take any public position on this or appear with her until the inquiry is concluded”.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “It’s not just about justice being done but also about justice being seen to be done.”
Ms Rayner was backed by Mr Bunrham when she stood to be Labour’s deputy leader.
She wrote on Facebook in January 2020: “Great news that Andy Burnham announced today in my Ashton-under-Lyne constituency that he is backing me for deputy leader of the Labour Party… The support is very much appreciated Andy.”
The pair also performed a karaoke song together at the Labour conference in 2021.
Ms Rayner has promised to resign if she is found to have committed a crime over the accusations about her previous living situation but said she “followed the rules at all times”.
The Ashton-under-Lyne MP has insisted she lived separately from her then-husband at her ex-council house in Vicarage Road after they married in 2010 after claims surfaced in an unauthorised biography by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft.
But neighbours have claimed she did live with Mark Rayner at his property about a mile away on Lowndes Lane.
GMP initially said it was not investigating the row but reassessed the information and launched a probe following a complaint from Tory deputy chairman James Daly.
