KEIR STARMER has been forced into a major Cabinet shake-up after Angela Rayner sensationally quit over a £40,000 stamp duty row.
The Labour leader has named David Lammy as the new Deputy Prime Minister — while also handing him the Justice Secretary brief in a reshuffle at the top of government.
Rayner, 45, resigned after an ethics probe found she underpaid tax on her new seaside flat in Hove. The review said she failed to get proper advice under the Ministerial Code, leaving her red-faced and out of the Cabinet.
The row erupted when it emerged Rayner had listed the Hove property as her main home — even though she still held another house in trust for her son. That meant she should have paid the higher stamp duty rate, leaving a shortfall of around £40,000.
In her resignation letter, Rayner admitted she “should have sought expert advice,” adding that the relentless scrutiny had taken a toll on her family.
Starmer praised his long-time ally for “doing the right thing” and said she would remain an “important voice” from the backbenches.
In the reshuffle fallout, Yvette Cooper has been moved from the Home Office to become Foreign Secretary, while Shabana Mahmood takes over as Home Secretary after impressing at the Ministry of Justice.
Lammy, 53, now finds himself front and centre of Starmer’s top team — tasked with steadying the ship after the biggest shake-up of Labour’s government since taking power.