A former Conservative minister who leapt to the defence of Angela Rayner is secretly working as an adviser to Labour.
Nick Boles was lauded by the Left last week after accusing the Tories of 'hypocrisy' for questioning whether Labour's deputy leader is telling the truth about her property dealings.
But the Mail can reveal that Mr Boles has been quietly advising Labour on how to implement the party's plans for government.
Mr Boles confirmed that he is working as an 'informal adviser' to Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Sue Gray, as she draws up Labour's plans for power. He declined to say how the arrangement came about, or how long he has been working as a Labour adviser.
But he insisted that Labour had not put him up to launching a public defence of Ms Rayner.
Former Conservative minister Nick Boles (pictured), who leapt to the defence of Angela Rayner, is secretly working as an adviser to Labour
He insisted that Labour had not put him up to launching a public defence of Ms Rayner (pictured, right, with Sir Keir Starmer)
Mr Boles confirmed that he is working as an 'informal adviser' to Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Sue Gray (pictured), as she draws up Labour's plans for power
In a letter to The Times, Mr Boles said the Tory pursuit of Ms Rayner over claims she may have dodged tax or even broken the law was 'one of the most grotesque spectacles of hypocrisy I have witnessed'.
The former minister said Rishi Sunak and former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft, who first raised concerns about Ms Rayner's conduct, had both benefited from their families' use of non-dom tax status in the past and were now living 'lives of luxury'.
By contrast, he said, Ms Rayner had grown up in poverty and 'pulled herself up by her bootstraps'. He said even her detractors believed she owed 'less than £3,000 in tax'.
Mr Boles was hailed by the Left as a hero, with the Labour-supporting Observer newspaper – sister paper of The Guardian – saying Mr Boles' 'magnificently scornful' intervention showed that 'the belief that the pursuit of Ms Rayner reeks of Tory hypocrisy is not just to be heard from lifelong Labour partisans'.
Mr Boles' attack line was echoed almost word for word by Sir Keir at Prime Minister's Questions last week, with the Labour leader claiming the Prime Minister and Lord Ashcroft were two wealthy men 'smearing a working-class woman'.
The PM responded that Sir Keir should 'show some leadership' and publish Ms Rayner's tax and legal advice, which she claims clears her.
One senior Tory said yesterday: 'It is pretty rich for Nick Boles to be accusing anyone else of hypocrisy. Here he is accusing the Conservatives of playing political games without revealing he is working for the Labour Party.
'The fact he is advising Starmer's chief of staff puts a completely different complexion on his comments – no wonder he didn't want to mention it.'
The former minister said Rishi Sunak (pictured) and former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft, who first raised concerns about Ms Rayner's conduct, had both benefited from their families' use of non-dom tax status in the past and were now living 'lives of luxury'
Mr Boles served as Boris Johnson's chief of staff during his time as London mayor, and was once part of the 'Notting Hill set' of senior Tories alongside David Cameron (pictured, right), George Osborne (second from right) and Michael Gove (left)
Mr Boles told the Mail: 'I wrote the letter as a private citizen. The first anyone in the Labour Party knew of it was when it appeared in The Times.'
Mr Boles' new role completes his political journey across the floor. The privately educated former planning minister served as Boris Johnson's chief of staff during his time as London mayor, and was once part of the 'Notting Hill set' of senior Tories alongside David Cameron, George Osborne and Michael Gove. Allies of Mr Johnson accused him of betrayal when he switched sides during the 2016 leadership contest to back Mr Gove.
He quit the Conservative Party in 2019 over Brexit. Until recently he was a senior adviser at a consultancy run by former Tory Cabinet minister Francis Maude.
