The Conservatives have submitted an official complaint accusing Angela Rayner of allegedly asking civil servants to help her move into a grace-and-favour apartment once used by Winston Churchill.
The deputy prime minister reportedly instructed officials to assist with “transporting furniture” and “cleaning the accommodation”, according to the complaint from the Tory MP and shadow minister Paul Holmes.
Mr Holmes told The Telegraph, which first reported the complaint, that if correct then it would be a “clear breach” of the ministerial code.
“The ministerial code states that ministers are appointed to serve the public and must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise,” he said.
“It also states that holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends.”
Mr Holmes also said that Ms Rayner should be sent a bill for the “estimated costs of civil service time”.
The complaint has been submitted to the director of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office as well as the permanent secretary in Ms Rayner’s department.
Last month it was revealed that Ms Rayner had been given the use of the Admiralty House flat in Whitehall.
Churchill lived in Admiralty House from 1911 to 1915, when he was an MP for Dundee, and returned during the start of the war as First Lord of the Admiralty.
John Prescott also lived there during his time as deputy prime minister under Tony Blair.
Ms Rayner is the third secretary of state in recent weeks to have been reported by the Conservative Party for possible breaches of the ministerial and civil service codes.
David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has been reported for the “political nature” of a speech he gave earlier this month which was streamed live through official Foreign Office channels despite containing “multiple party-political references”.
The Tories pointed out in a complaint to the Cabinet Office that the ministerial code “states that ministers must not use government resources for party political resources”.
The party has also reported Steve Reed, the environment secretary, for a potential breach of the civil service code.
After receiving the complaint, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that an incorrect version of a speech by Mr Reed had been “uploaded in error” onto the government website and has now been amended, The Telegraph reported.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “MHCLG provided logistical support to the deputy prime minister’s move into an official residence, with the awareness of the permanent secretary. Removal and cleaning firms were employed to carry out this move and were paid for personally by the deputy prime minister.”
