Police review decision not to investigate Angela Rayner after Tory complaint

The police are reviewing a decision not to investigate Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, over claims she may have broken electoral law.

The move to “reassess” a decision not to launch an investigation earlier this month was confirmed by Greater Manchester police (GMP) on Wednesday after a complaint by the Conservative MP James Daly about the force’s handling of the issue.

Daly, the Conservative deputy chair, had originally asked the force to investigate after Rayner had faced questions for weeks over whether she was liable to pay capital gains tax (CGT) on the sale of her former council house before she became an MP.

The complaint to police from Daly followed claims made in a book by the former Tory deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, which suggested that she had failed to properly declare her main residence.

However, while GMP said earlier this month that Rayner would not face investigation, Daly wrote again to suggest that relevant witness or documents had not been considered.

He received a reply from Cheryl Hughes, a detective chief inspector, who said she had read a letter from him “outlining your concern over the lack of investigation into the matters you raised in your initial complaints to GMP”.