About
Angela Rayner returned to government on 20 July 2026 as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government — the job she held from Labour's 2024 election win until her resignation in September 2025. She replaces Steve Reed, who took the brief after her departure and left government when Andy Burnham formed his cabinet.
An MP since 2015 and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Rayner left school at sixteen, worked as a care worker and came up through UNISON before entering Parliament. She served as Deputy Prime Minister alongside the housing brief in her first spell. Her return is one of the clearer signals in Burnham's reshuffle: housebuilding and renters' rights stay central, and the party's soft left is bound into the top team rather than left outside it.
What lands on her desk
The 1.5 million homes target over the parliament was her flagship objective first time round and returns to her now, against planning constraints and a construction sector that has argued the number was never deliverable. The Renters' Rights Act, which ended "no-fault" evictions, is in force and needs bedding in.
The bigger question is property tax. Burnham has long backed the Proportional Property Tax — scrapping council tax and stamp duty for a flat 0.48% annual charge — and council tax is Rayner's department, not just the Treasury's. Any move on it runs through her, against warnings from the Centre for London that a £600,000 London home would pay around £812 a year more.
In the news
- Andy Burnham's property tax proposals, explained
- Andy Burnham is Prime Minister: what changes for your money?
- Autumn Budget 2026: what to expect for your money
Links
This is an independent, unofficial profile compiled from public sources — we are not affiliated with Angela Rayner or any party. Spotted an error? Tell us via the newsletter reply address.