The Conservative Party has launched an official complaint against Angela Rayner, accusing the deputy prime minister of breaching the ministerial code.
Tory MP and shadow minister Paul Holmes has submitted a complaint over claims Rayner, who is also the housing, communities and local government secretary, asked civil servants to help her move into Admiralty House in Whitehall.
He has written to the director of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office, as well as Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government permanent secretary Sarah Healey, asking them to investigate the claims.
Holmes told The Telegraph that if civil servants were asked to assist Rayner in moving to the grace-and-favour property, this would be a “clear breach” of the ministerial code and that Rayner should be sent a bill for the “estimated costs of civil service time during the move, calculated at private sector rates”.
The shadow minister pointed to two elements of the code that he believes may have been broken: "ministers are appointed to serve the public and must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise"; and "holders of public office… should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends".
Rayner allegedly asked officials to help her with “transporting furniture” and “cleaning the accommodation”, according to Holmes’s complaint.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "MHCLG provided logistical support to the deputy prime minister's move into an official residence, with the awareness of the permanent secretary. Removal and cleaning firms were employed to carry out this move and were paid for personally by the deputy prime minister.”
Admiralty House is used for government functions and provides accommodation for ministers. In the past, prime ministers have used it while 10 Downing Street has been renovated.
The Conservative Party has also put in official complaints against David Lammy, the foreign secretary, and Steve Reed, the environment secretary.
The party reported Lammy to the Cabinet Office for speech he gave earlier this month containing “multiple party-political references” that was streamed live through Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office channels.
It pointed to the line in the ministerial code which states that “ministers must not use government resources for party-political resources”.
The party reported Reed to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs perm sec Tamara Finkelstein for a speech he gave and its publication on GOV.UK, which it said amounted to a “party-political attack” on the Conservatives. It said this was a breach of the civil service code.
Defra said the wrong version of Reed’s speech had been “uploaded in error” and that it had now amended it, The Telegraph reported.