Constituents say Deputy PM Rayner 'had to go'

Alan Douglas said he believed his MP Angela Rayner had no choice but to resign

"She has been the main attack dog for Labour when the Tories have done something wrong - especially with tax and things."

That was how retired toolmaker Alan Douglas described his local MP Angela Rayner, who has resigned as deputy prime minister and housing secretary.

Mr Douglas, from Rayner's constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, said she had little option but to fall on her sword after it emerged she had failed to pay the correct amount of stamp duty.

"Now it has turned full circle and come back to bite her," said Mr Douglas, 75.

"It wasn't looking good for her."

Stockport-born Rayner, 45, will now return to the back benches as a Labour MP.

After leaving school at 16 with no qualifications, the former union official became the first woman elected as MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in 2015 and enjoyed a meteoric rise to the upper echelons of government.

However she ran out of political road when an ethics report concluded she should have sought specialist tax advice when she purchased an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

The report, by the prime minister's ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus, said that while Rayner had "acted with integrity" she had breached the ministerial code by failing to seek relevant counsel.

An ethics report concluded Angela Rayner had breached the ministerial code

Mr Douglas's critical views were echoed by other voters in the Tameside market town after news of Rayner's resignation emerged.

Retired transport manager Peter Smith, 63, said it was a "real shame" Rayner had to go.

"She's a working-class girl who has risen to the top of government among all those privately educated people," he said.

But after the stamp duty scandal, he added: "As far as I am concerned, it is a good result...

"It seems something a bit shady has gone on.

"It was very careless of her to say the least - I think she has been a bit economical with the truth."

Peter Smith said that while it was a "shame", Rayner had to step down

Meanwhile taxi driver Abdul Khaliq, 54, added: "She has not been truthful with her tax so she had to step down."

Speaking just ahead of the resignation being announced, teaching assistant Julie Doherty, 59, said: "She deserves to be sacked for what she's done.

"She should go.

"There's not much sympathy for her round here."