Revealed: The glossy shots of Angela Rayner hard at work (and drinking whisky through a straw) taken by her taxpayer-funded 'vanity photographer' - after she slammed Tories for doing the same

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner beams as she drinks whisky through a straw while posing for pictures taken by her 'vanity photographer'.

The lighthearted image captured on a visit to Scotland sits alongside more serious shots of her hard at work in the short weeks since Labour won the election taken by Simon Walker.

She is shown variously meeting her Pakistani counterpart, hosting a Make Work Pay breakfast meeting and visiting a John Lewis department store with London mayor Sadiq Khan in other glossy PR photos.

The Mail today revealed Ms Rayner, who has been mired in controversy over freebies from Labour donors and could face a sleaze inquiry, has risked a fresh storm over Mr Walker's appointment on a salary of £68,000.

He has been given the title of Chief Photographer to the Deputy PM and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. He previously worked as Rishi Sunak 's chief photographer.

Labour officials have denied that it amounted to recruiting a 'vanity photographer' for the DPM, something Ms Rayner condemned while in opposition.

In 2021, when Boris Johnson was PM, she said: 'The public will be rightly questioning why there is apparently no limit on the money that can be found to pay for a coterie of vanity photographers for the Prime Minister.'

Mr Walker previously worked in No 10 as chief photographer to Rishi Sunak.

This morning Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted he was not Ms Rayner's 'personal photographer'.

She told Times Radio: 'All government departments under all governments have press officers and communications budgets. It's not a personal photographer.'

And the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the photographer had been hired to chronicle the work of the department, not just Ms Rayner.

'Many government departments employ official photographers to share the work of the department and ministers with the public,' the department said.

'This is a civil service role and will be part of MHCLG's communications team.'

But a Tory source said: 'Are there any greater vanity projects than the Deputy Prime Minister with her thousands of pounds of free clothes, her luxury free holiday, and now her publicly paid photographer?'

Ms Reeves was asked on BBC Breakfast whether the hire was a waste of public money and said the Government had committed to reducing the size of its communications budget, but reiterated that all departments have media officers and photographers.

'Not for individual politicians but to support the policy work, the campaigning work, the initiatives of Government departments, to help Government departments do their jobs.

'This is not to support Angela Rayner as a Labour Party politician. This is to support the ministry for housing, communities and local government.'

Starting out as a freelancer in 1987, Mr Walker worked as a photographer for the Daily Express and The Times, before becoming News Picture Editor at The Times in 2004.

After leaving Reuter's picture desk in 2018 he moved briefly towards consultancy work before joining HMRC at the end of 2019, and then moving to the Treasury.

Mr 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.