A simple guide to the Angela Rayner house row

Angela Rayner has been dogged in recent weeks by a row over her living arrangements before she was an MP.

It has prompted weeks of unhelpful headlines for Labour's deputy leader, who stands in for Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.

The row has seen her face questions over whether she owed tax on a house she sold in 2015, and registered to vote at the correct address.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is now investigating, following a request from Conservative deputy chair James Daly.

Ms Rayner has promised to step down if she is found to have committed a criminal offence - but insists she has followed the rules at all times.

Questions about her living arrangements have been raised since an an unauthorised biography of her, written by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft, was published last month.

Ms Rayner bought her former council house in Vicarage Road, Stockport under the right-to-buy scheme in 2007.

Eight years later, following her marriage in 2010, she sold the property for £48,500 more than she paid.

She initially said she didn't pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the profit, because, like the "majority of ordinary people who sell their own homes," it was "my home and the only one I owned".

Those selling their "main residence" typically don't have to pay the tax.

But married couples and civil couples can normally only count one property as their main home for CGT purposes, prompting questions over whether she should have paid some.

Ms Rayner has said she wasn't aware of this tax rule when she sold the house, adding she "didn't have an accountant" at the time, and did not get specific advice on the issue.

It is understood, however, that since the row broke out she has taken separate expert tax and legal advice, including on the CGT issue and the rules for married couples.

She has said the advice she received is "categoric" that she didn't owe any tax on her profit from the sale.

However, she has not published the advice on privacy grounds.

The rules in this area are complicated, with various exemptions, including when the cost of refurbishment on a property can lower the amount owed.

Tax experts have estimated she may owe up to about £3,500 in CGT in the worst case scenario - although she may owe nothing at all.

The tax question has prompted further questions over whether Ms Rayner registered to vote at the correct address.

Eligible voters are required to join the electoral roll, which as well as registering people to vote is also used for things like credit checks and asking people to sit on court juries.

It is an offence to give "false information" when joining the roll.

She was reportedly registered at the house she sold, in Vicarage Road in Stockport, Greater Manchester, until she sold it in 2015.

But she appears to have given two different addresses when she re-registered the births of two of her children in 2010 following her marriage to Mark Rayner, listing her then-husband's home on Lowndes Lane in the town.

Earlier this month, a Labour spokesperson said Ms Rayner spent time at her husband's house after their marriage, but "the house she owned remained her main home".

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) launched an investigation earlier this month into whether "any offences have been committed".

However, the force has not said exactly what it is investigating. Its chief constable has said it would not give a "running commentary" on a live probe.

It had initially decided not to investigate, after calls from Mr Daly for it to open an inquiry.

But it reversed that decision earlier this month, following a "reassessment" of information he had provided.

In media interviews since the investigation was launched, Mr Daly has not set out his allegations in any detail, adding he didn't want to discuss them publicly to give police "time and space to investigate".

The inquiry was initially thought to be solely into the electoral roll claims, but there have been reports it may be wider than that, including into whether she paid the correct amount of council tax on the property.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has given his backing to his deputy, saying he is "fully confident" she has not broken any rules.

He says he hasn't himself seen the legal advice she has received - although members of his team have.

And he accused Rishi Sunak of "smearing a working-class woman," after he called on the Labour leader to read the advice during a feisty Prime Minister's Questions last week.