Angela Rayner will now contest claim she did not pay enough stamp duty

Angela Rayner is now contesting claims she did not pay enough stamp duty on her coastal flat worth thousands of pounds after she chose to take new legal advice. 

Ms Rayner was forced to quit her roles as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and Labour deputy leader in September, after independent legal advice discovered she failed to pay enough tax. 

This came after she previously denied misconduct claims relating to her purchase of the apartment in Hove, East Sussex, last May. 

Ms Rayner told tax authorities at the time her £800,000 seaside apartment was her main place of residence - and had taken her name off the deeds of a property in her Greater Manchester constituency only weeks before buying the Hove flat. 

The deed changes allowed the former minister to pay £30,000 in stamp duty instead of £70,000, which would have applied if the Hove property were her second home. 

The revelations came after the Daily Mail revealed Ms Rayner had bought the apartment in addition to her £650,000 house in Greater Manchester. 

Independent legal advice paid by Labour at the time, The Times reported, said she should have paid the higher rate - more than double what she paid. 

This was concluded on the basis she sold her 25 per cent stake in her family home in Greater Manchester to a 'court-instructed' trust for her disabled son. 

Ms Rayner admitted in her resignation letter that it was probable she had accidentally paid too little stamp duty and referred herself to HM Revenue & Customs.

The former deputy prime minister has since taken new legal advice, according to The Times, which concluded she did not need to pay the higher rate of stamp duty. 

The new advice has subsequently been submitted to HMRC - and is believed to pull on the 'complexities' within the trust handover. 

Ms Rayner will allegedly accept the conclusion of the investigation by the HMRC and pay the potential fine. 

The recent events come amid the news that she is launching her own political podcast Beyond the Bubble, with a debut episode on housing with Lord Gove. 

The move, reported by The Times, provides an alternative route to utilise in her wooing of Labour MPs and other supporters as she becomes more likely to be Sir Keir Starmer's successor. 

Reports continue to circulate that the Prime Minister will be challenged if Labour does badly in local elections on May 7 - as his popularity ratings continue to remain low. 

Sir Keir reiterated his wish on Friday for Ms Rayner to return to government, following the major scandal last year. 

When questioned whether his position may be under pressure, Sir Keir told Sky News' Electoral Dysfunction podcast: 'Look, let me say about Angela to start with, she was a fantastic deputy Prime Minister.

'I was very proud of the fact that Angela had come from a really challenging start in life, to then be deputy Prime Minister.

'She's got a lot to offer, and I obviously had a conversation with her on the day that she had to resign, and I regret that she had to resign. It was the right thing to do, but I regret that she had to do it.

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How the Daily Mail uncovered Angela Rayner's stamp tax dodge on her new £800k seaside home

'And I said to her, that her contribution to the Labour government and the Labour movement was by no means over.

'And so I do expect to see her playing a leading role in this Labour government.'

Yet last week the former deputy prime minister was warned she must jump several hurdles to secure the position of prime minister. 

Luke Tryl, the UK director of More in Common, said recent focus groups revealed the public sentiment for Ms Rayner was 'fairly negative'. 

He added one voter said: 'Angela, there's a lot of baggage there.'

Sir Keir is seemingly pre-empting a negative local election result, calling for the King's Speech to be six days later. 

The Prime Minister scheduled the State Opening for May 13, which means the Parliament will not be gathered for nearly a week after the polls. 

The week 'break' may offer Sir Keir an opportunity to 'reset', while reducing chances for plotting, 

The HM Revenue & Customs denied to comment 'due to taxpayer confidentiality law'.

Angela Rayner has been contacted for comment.