Angela Rayner faces investigation by sleaze watchdog over Lord Alli New York flat stay

Angela Rayner has been reported to the parliamentary standards commissioner accused of failing to properly declare a stay in a New York apartment.

In the letter to the watchdog yesterday, the Conservatives say the Deputy Prime Minister may have broken the rules by not admitting she was staying with former MP and her ex-boyfriend Sam Tarry.

Ms Rayner insisted yesterday she correctly declared the five days in the lavish $2.5million (£1.8million) Manhattan apartment gifted to her by donor Lord Alli.

But while she registered the trip, she failed to mention that Mr Tarry stayed with her, in what the Tories say is a breach of the House of Commons code of conduct.

She and Mr Tarry stayed in the apartment – which has a roof deck, courtyard and fitness suite – from December 29 to January 2 this year, The Sunday Times reported.

The building's website describes it as being at the heart of the theatre district with 'incredible views' over the Hudson river and New Jersey . The two-bedroom 1,300 sq ft property was lent to Ms Rayner by the Labour donor at the centre of the row over gifts to the PM and his wife.

She says that Lord Alli – who has given her more than £50,000 over the past four years – is primarily a personal friend but she chose to report the stay because he was also a donor to her political activities.

The parliamentary commissioner for standards investigates potential non-compliance with the MPs' code of conduct and can order members to update their register or issue an apology to the Commons.

According to the parliamentary register of interests, Ms Rayner was given a flat as accommodation for five nights to enjoy a 'personal holiday' in New York.

The rules say MPs must declare foreign trips which they, or anyone connected to them, undertake if a donor pays for 'part or all' of it as a result of their 'parliamentary or political activities'.

Ms Rayner's team claim that she did not need to declare that Mr Tarry, the ex-Ilford South MP, had joined her because Lord Alli was not aware that he had.

Her relationship with the former trade union official came into the open in 2022 after he was pictured leaving her flat with what appeared to be a toothbrush in his pocket.

That year he was sacked as a transport spokesman by Sir Keir Starmer for giving an unauthorised TV interview from a picket line during train strikes.

Ms Rayner, a mother of three and grandmother, separated from her husband Mark Rayner in 2020. Yesterday she insisted that she had been 'overly transparent' in registering the accommodation during her 'personal holiday' in New York.

She told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'I don't believe I broke any rules. I had the use of the apartment and I disclosed that I had the use of the apartment.'

The Tories also questioned her claim that the property cost £250 a night, saying similar Airbnb properties went for upwards of a total £2,000 for the same length stay.

Sources close to her say she simply reported the commercial value of the property as estimated by Lord Alli himself. Ms Rayner and Mr Tarry declined to comment on the Sunday Times's story.