Angela Rayner says she will not repay her £16,876 severance payment after returning as housing secretary in Andy Burnham’s new cabinet.
Angela Rayner has refused to repay her severance payment after her return to the cabinet, saying the £16,876 money was paid when she left office and should not now be handed back. The Angela Rayner severance payment has become a fresh political flashpoint after she was reappointed as housing secretary by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Monday.
In an interview with the BBC, Rayner said she would not return the money because she had been out of government for almost a year after leaving in September 2025. She told Matt Chorley on BBC Radio 5 Live that the payment was made when she had already worked in government and then left office. The Conservatives quickly pressed her to give it back, arguing that her return to the front bench changes the picture.
Rayner’s earlier exit came after she resigned as deputy prime minister and housing secretary following a tax mistake linked to her £800,000 flat in Hove. That departure triggered the severance payout. In May, she settled £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty with HMRC after an investigation. She has said she was exonerated of claims that she had deliberately tried to avoid tax.
The ministerial severance rules behind the payment are straightforward. Departing ministers can receive a lump sum equal to 25% of annual ministerial pay when they stop holding office. But those over 65 or those reappointed within three weeks do not qualify. The 2025/26 accounts for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government record Rayner’s payment.
“Angela Rayner says she will not repay her £16,876 severance payment after returning as housing secretary in Andy Burnham’s new cabinet.”
This is not the first time Rayner has attacked the Conservatives over the issue. In 2023, she accused them of showing a “staggering lack of shame” after reports that former ministers, including some later returned to the front bench, received more than £450,000 in severance packages. She said then that the political world had become a “revolving door” of ministers coming back after only a short time away.
The Conservatives are now using her old criticism against her. They said this week that she had “quit in disgrace and took a £17k payout” last year, then asked whether she would now return the cash. Their argument is simple: if Rayner once condemned ministerial payouts, they say, she should not keep one herself after reclaiming her old post.
Rayner, for her part, said the episode had been hard on her and her family. She told BBC Radio 5 Live that she felt she had let people down, but that she wanted to keep fighting for them. She also said she has “unfinished business” in government, pointing to council house building and support for local government as priorities she wants to pursue.
Burnham has said he wants the “biggest council house building programme since the post-war period,” and Rayner said she would not give an exact figure for that pledge or say when she believes the post-war period ended. She did say the government has increased investment, including £39 billion in social and affordable housing grant funding. For American readers, the dispute shows how quickly questions of standards, public money, and political consistency can turn into a governing test, especially when leaders return to power after a scandal.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Angela Rayner being asked to repay the severance payment?
She was reappointed to the cabinet after leaving government last year, and Conservatives say that changes whether she should keep the payout.
How much was Rayner’s severance payment?
The payment was £16,876, according to the article and the housing department’s 2025/26 accounts.
Why did Rayner leave office in the first place?
She resigned as deputy prime minister and housing secretary after a tax mistake linked to her £800,000 flat in Hove.
What does Rayner say about not returning the money?
She says the payment was made when she had already worked in government and then left office, and that she had been out for almost a year.
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