Yarm protest staged against Angela Rayner during visit

Ms Rayner faced questions about whether she paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her ex-council house due to concerns over whether it was her principal residency.

The Labour deputy leader has insisted she has “done absolutely nothing wrong” and took legal advice to ensure that no rules were broken.

However, a small group of protestors staged a demonstration on Wednesday (April 10) on Yarm High Street - holding up a banner with the words: "Angela Rayner - tax dodger?"

Protestors in Yarm today (April 10) (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

The deputy Labour leader was in Yarm on Wednesday alongside shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper to unveil the political parties' five-point plan to "breathe new life" into Britain's high streets.

During the protest, several people could be heard trying to get a response from Ms Rayner and shouting "Did you dodge tax?"

Ms Rayner has previously denied the claims levelled against her and said she would present advice to the police or HMRC but would not publicly release her “personal tax advice”.

Following the protest, Ms Rayner played down the demonstration and focused on "winning votes" at a general election, whenever that might be. 

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner in Yarm (Image: PA MEDIA)

She said: "We know that we're not going to win 100 per cent of the vote count at a general election and not everyone will vote for us. 

"In Yarm, we will fight for every vote, like we will up and down the UK. 

"At the moment, the Conservatives are running scared of a general election. They could have staged it in May to go with the Mayoral elections, but have failed to do so."

(left-right) Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and deputy leader Angela Rayner (Image: PA MEDIA)

A Stockton Conservative councillor has admitted that he was at the protest - but said he wasn't the organiser of the event. 

Cllr John Coulson, a Yarm ward councillor said that the demonstration was a "spontaneous protest" that he admitted "upset a lot of people".

He has explained why he took part., by saying: "I'm passionate about the local MP and Ben Houchen - it was just a token protest".

On Sunday (April 7) evening, Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden published a letter he had written to Sir Keir where he refers to the testimony of residents alleging that Ms Rayner was not living at the property she was registered to on the electoral register.

In the letter, Mr Holden said: “You have pledged to uphold standards in public life but the failure by you and your deputy to answer the simplest questions about this matter makes a mockery of these claims.”

He added: “Given the clear public interest in this case, your unwillingness to investigate this fully so far, or even bother to look at the legal advice Ms Rayner claims to have received, is a damning indictment of your leadership. Surely you recognise this matter is highly corrosive to your own reputation, not just that of your deputy.”

Sir Keir defended Ms Rayner and said people were more interested in “problems caused by this government.”

Read more:

• 'I feel cheated' says widow, 85, whose £100k life savings 'gone' in £138m scandal

• County Durham salon owner asks clients to boycott car parks as charges introduced

• Teen aims to win superbike championship ten years on from dad's racetrack death

Get the latest news, sports, and entertainment delivered straight to your device by subscribing to The Northern Echo here. 

He said: “Angela Rayner has been asked no end of questions about this. She’s answered them all. She said she’s very happy to answer any further questions from the police or from any of the authorities.

“I don’t need to see the legal advice. My team has seen it. But I will say this, that on the day that the A&E figures, people are waiting more than 24 hours in A&E, we now know that they are 10 times as high as they were five years ago.

“The idea that the Tories want to be focusing on what Angela Rayner, how much time she spent with her ex-husband 10 years ago, I can tell you here at this hospital, nobody but nobody is interested in that. They’re very, very interested in what are you going to do about the A&E problem caused by this government.