Police are investigating claims that Angela Rayner broke electoral law when she lived between two former council houses in the 2010s.

The deputy leader of the Labour Party has been accused of giving false information when she lived in her own home rather than with her husband at his property.

In a statement on Friday morning, Greater Manchester police (GMP) said they had reassessed the case after a complaint from the Tory MP James Daly, and were investigating. “We’re investigating whether any offences have been committed,” the force said. “This follows a reassessment of the information provided to us by Mr Daly.”

GMP had initially declined to investigate after an assessment of the law, but Mr Daly, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, complained that the police had not contacted witnesses or looked at the electoral roll, deeds and other relevant documents.

In a letter dated March 25, Cheryl Hughes, a detective chief inspector at GMP, wrote to Mr Daly: “I have read your letter outlining your concern over the lack of investigation into the matters you raised in your initial complaints to GMP on the 25th February regarding Angela Rayner MP.

“Following receipt of your recent letter dated 13th March 2024, I have been requested to review the circumstances you have outlined to reassess our decision around an investigation. I will update with the outcome.”

The penalties for providing false information can be levied under the Representation of the People Act.

The Electoral Commission website says: “Residence has a particular meaning in electoral law and is not equivalent to residence for other purposes such as income tax or council tax. Normally a person is resident at an address for electoral purposes if it is their permanent home address.”

According to Ms Rayner, she formally lived apart from her husband, who is the father of two of her three children, for the first five years of their marriage, between 2010 and 2015.

However, neighbours at the two properties said it was her brother who had lived at her house, The Times has reported.

Ms Rayner has called the allegations a “non-story” and a smear by her Tory opponents.

On Friday a Labour spokesman said: “Angela welcomes the chance to set out the facts with the police. We remain completely confident that Angela has complied with the rules at all times and it’s now appropriate to let the police do its work.”

The row over Ms Rayner’s “two homes” has rumbled on since the end of February, when questions were posed in an unauthorised biography by the former Tory peer Lord Ashcroft.

Ms Rayner has faced calls to explain why she did not pay capital gains tax of up to £1,500 on the profits from the sale of her house in March 2015. She said she has received tax and legal advice that says tax was not owed, but has declined to publish the advice.

Experts have said she could have gained tax relief if she and her husband had nominated her home as their principal residence. However, this would then require Mark Rayner to pay tax on profits from his home when it sold in 2016.

Mark Rayner declined to comment when asked by The Times last month about the sale of his property.

Last month Ms Rayner told Newsnight on the BBC there had been “no wrongdoing” and “no unlawfulness”, adding: “I’ve been very clear there’s no rules broken. They [the Conservatives] tried to manufacture a police investigation … I got tax advice which says there was no capital gains tax. It’s a non-story manufactured to try and smear me.”