A Reform UK conference goer warned that “if you live by the sword, you’ve got to die by the sword” after Angela Rayner’s resignation. The Daily Express asked delegates at the Birmingham gathering if the Ashton-under-Lyne MP was right to quit as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and deputy Labour leader in a row over her tax affairs.
Sophie Preston-Hall, the party’s interim Thurrock branch chair, said: “100%. My only shock was that she lasted that long actually. If you live by the sword, you’ve got to die by the sword. If that had happened to one of our MPs she’d have been calling for us to be hung, drawn and quartered, and probably quite rightly so. It’s gobsmacking she even lasted that long.”
Attendee Stephen Cooling said Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, was “absolutely” right to stand down.
Member Archie Catchpole said: “I think it should have happened sooner but yes.”
Reform councillor Christopher Hudson said he felt sorry for the Ashton-under-Lyne MP on a personal level.
But he added: “Angela Rayner had no option. She is in charge of housing, her situation is untenable.”
Ms Rayner announced her resignation yesterday on the first day of Reform UK’s conference after an independent ethics investigation found she had failed to pay enough stamp duty on a seaside flat she bought this year.
Reform leader Nigel Farage brought forward his keynote speech to react to Ms Rayner’s exit.
He told activists during his address that the Government was “deep in crisis” and he could see the country going to the polls in 2027, two years earlier than expected.
Mr Farage said: “We’re used to hearing stories of splits in the Conservative Party. We’re about to witness a big rift in the Labour Party, too.”
He added: “Before long, there’ll be Labour MPs that reckon they’ve got a better chance on the (Jeremy Corbyn) sectarian ticket … they’ve got a better chance of being re-elected under that ticket, under Corbyn, than they do under Sir Keir.
“I think there is every chance now of a general election happening in 2027 and we must be ready for that moment.”