Sir Keir Starmer has shown a public display of defiance today, appearing side-by-side with Angela Rayner.
His under-siege deputy joined him for a walkabout in Derby, where they visited a housing development to launch the party’s new “golden rules” for housebuilding should they win the election.
Ms Rayner and Sir Keir were both seen wearing high-vis jackets and hard hats at the Nightingale Quarter of the city.
They then took off the builders’ outfits before stepping into a local resident’s kitchen for a chat.
The pair’s outing comes after a tumultuous week for Ms Rayner, who remains at the centre of a storm about her home around 10 years ago and whether she broke electoral laws and dodged capital gains tax.
Amid Ms Rayner adamantly saying she is innocent, it was revealed that around a dozen Greater Manchester Police officers are probing ‘multiple’ possible offences.
It also emerged that Labour destroyed key documents that could have shone a light on Ms Rayner’s living arrangements when she was selected as a Labour candidate in 2014.
This morning it was revealed that Ms Rayner’s eldest son was registered to live at her then-husband’s address on Lowndes Lane, which Ms Rayner says wasn’t her main residence.
However Labour insists that this latest claim does “not contradict anything” in Ms Rayner’s previous statements.
They add: “The rules were followed at all time”.
Ms Rayner has promised to resign if the police find her guilty of any wrongdoing.
