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Best of the Spectator

Coffee House Shots: why Angela Rayner is so iconic

Best of the Spectator

The Spectator

News Commentary, News, Daily News, Society & Culture

4.4 β€’ 785 Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 30 August 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Daily Telegraph have run a story this week that Angela Rayner may have dodged stamp duty on her second home. But beyond the story, its the photos of the Deputy Prime Minister on the beach at Hove – drinking and vaping – that went viral. Christian Calgie, senior political correspondent for the Daily Express, joins James Heale to unpack the story and the wider questions it raises for British politics, but also to discuss Rayner herself. Could 'teflon Ang' turn around the Labour Party's fortunes? And why do so many people – including many Tories – like her so much?


Produced by Megan McElroy and Patrick Gibbons.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0

At Philip Morris International, we're delivering a smoke-free future today.

0:05.0

Our mission is clear.

0:06.5

To reduce smoking by replacing cigarettes with better smoke-free alternatives for adult smokers.

0:12.4

We aim to deliver a smoke-free world and are making significant progress.

0:17.0

Learn more at pmi.com slash progress.

0:27.7

Music Learn more at PMI.com slash progress. Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots.

0:29.6

I'm James Hill and I'm delighted to be joined today by the senior political

0:32.2

correspondence on the Express, Christian Kalgi.

0:34.7

Kalki, I think it's been a summer dominated by Nigel Farage, but now we've seen the re-emergence

0:38.7

of a familiar political figure, one of our favourites, Angela Rainer on the front of the Daily

0:43.1

Telegraph.

0:43.9

Tell us more about this story.

0:45.3

Well, this emerged at the weekend that she has bought a second home.

0:50.3

She already earned a Β£650,000 one in her Greater Manchester constituency.

0:55.9

She's now bought an Β£800,000 penthouse luxury seaside fronting flat in Brighton. And of course, she has a residence of Horseguard's

1:03.2

parade, a grace-in-favour pad in central London. But this is a story because obviously amid Rachel Reeves's attempts to try and find taxes to raise,

1:14.1

Labour have already been pretty hard line on second homeowners, not just taxing them,

1:19.5

but overtly criticising wealthy homeowners.

1:22.1

And the Telegraph now believe that by being slightly clever with what she claims as her primary residence, she may have avoided tens of thousands of pounds in tax when buying this new property. Absolutely. I think it was one of Reeves' predecessors, Dennis Healy, who said that the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance was the thickness of a prison wall cell. And it looks at the telegraph in this story, very key to

1:44.3

emphasize, she hasn't broken the law. But there are two things, as I see it, as you agree. First of all, is the issue of hypocrisy, because you think about how much Labour went after Richie Sunak on tax and his wife, the non-adom stage is a perfectly legal arrangement. And the second interesting thing is about electoral law and about her potentially being registered three different addresses which are obviously you say the one in Greater Manchester

1:43.7

the new flat in Hove, and that Grace and

2:04.2

favour one. How do you see all this planning out? Well, you know, there's always the question

...

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