The Tories have played Raynergate well

Angela Rayner is now in a bind. Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent ethics adviser, will report shortly on whether the Deputy Prime Minister’s purchase of a Hove flat broke the ministerial code. If Magnus finds that she did, then Rayner, who in opposition demanded that the code be strengthened, will have to resign. Even if Magnus clears Rayner, questions will remain about the answers that her spokesman has given to the press. Last week, it was claimed that Rayner had ‘paid the correct duty owed on the purchase, entire properly’ and that ‘any suggestion otherwise is entirely without basis.’ Now, Rayner has admitted that she failed to pay a £40,000 tax bill on her second home.

At every stage of this story, the government has sought to dismiss concerns. Labour outriders have been quick to claim that those asking questions are either ‘classist’ or ‘sexist.’ That Rayner has now been pushed to the precipice is largely thanks to the dogged determination of Fleet Street’s journalists and the initiative of operators in Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ). The early focus on Rayner’s council tax arrangements and her use of Admiralty House has now shifted onto her £800,000 Hove flat purchase. Clearly, the unfair but catchy slogan ‘three homes Rayner’ helped land stories in the press.

Kevin Hollinrake, the genial Tory chairman, has happily turned attack dog, firing off quotes to keep up momentum over recess. On Friday, he was in the Telegraph demanding that she be struck off the electoral roll. Two days later, in the Mail on Sunday, he was questioning her use of a company which specialised in ‘wealth protection’. In reprising the same playbook used against John Prescott 20 years ago, the Tories have shown the benefits of being an established political party, with plenty of institutional memory to hand. Sometimes, the old tricks are the most effective.

Voters are deserting Starmer’s party – but they’re certainly not coming back to the Conservatives. Reform UK has generally been the main beneficiaries of popular discontent with Labour, with the party now boasting 32 per cent in the polls. Nevertheless, at a time when Tory spirits are low, scoring a direct hit on one of Labour’s leading pugilists ought to cheer the troops in Westminster. It proves that CCHQ can still launch effective attacks and that some within the party are rediscovering the art of opposition.