LONDON (AP) — U.K. deputy prime minister Angela Rayner resigned Friday after an independent inquiry found that she fell short of the standards expected of government ministers over a tax error on a recent house purchase.
"I take full responsibility for this error,⁘ she said in her resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount."
Rayner will remain a U.K. lawmaker on the back benches.
She referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, on Wednesday, who delivered his report to Starmer on Friday.
Though Magnus concluded that Rayner had "acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service," he said that "with deep regret" she had breached the ministers' code of conduct.
In the U.K., levies are charged on property purchases, with higher charges due on more expensive homes and secondary residences. Reports have suggested that Rayner saved 40,000 pounds (nearly $54,000) by not paying the appropriate levy, known as a stamp duty, on her 800,000-pound ($1 million) purchase.
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