British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced Friday she will resign following a scandal over her underpayment of taxes on her home.

The now-former British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, seen here arriving for a cabinet meeting in London, Britain in July. She resigned Friday over a tax underpayment scandal. File Photo by EPA/ANDY RAIN UPI

Sept. 5 (UPI) -- British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced Friday she will resign following a scandal over her underpayment of taxes on her home.

"Given the findings, and the impact on my family, I have therefore decided to resign as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as Deputy Leader of the Labor Party," Rayner said in a press release.

"I have long believed that people who serve the British public in government must always observe the highest standards, and while the Independent Adviser has concluded that I acted in good faith and with honesty and integrity throughout, I accept that I did not meet the highest standards in relation to my recent property purchase," she added.

Rayner had stated Wednesday that she referred herself to Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, in order to reach a determination on her realization that she paid an incorrect rate for Stamp Duty Land Tax on a home she purchased in May.

According to Raynor, she paid for her new home with a combination of a mortgage and money acquired from selling her stake in the residence she maintained with her former husband and their kids.

She alleges that she was given bad advice from her lawyers in regard to how much tax, or stamp duty she owed.

"I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice given both my position as Housing Secretary and my complex family arrangements," Rayner said.

"I take full responsibility for this error," she added. "I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount."

Magnus issued a judgement Friday in which did note that "I believe Ms. Rayner has acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service."

"I consider, however, that her unfortunate failure to settle her SDLT liability at the correct level, coupled with the fact that this was established only following intensive public scrutiny, leads me to advise you that, in relation to this matter, she cannot be considered to have met the 'highest possible standards of proper conduct' as envisaged by the [Ministerial Code]," he added.

The Ministerial Code are the standards all ministers are expected to uphold.

"Accordingly, it is with deep regret that I must advise you that in these circumstances, I consider the Code to have been breached," he concluded.

She also said she had resigned because of media pressure on her family.

"While I rightly expect proper scrutiny on me and my life, my family did not choose to have their private lives interrogated and exposed so publicly. I have been clear throughout this process that my priority has, and always will be, protecting my children and the strain I am putting them under through staying in post has become unbearable," Rayner explained.

"Thank you for informing me of your decision to resign from the Government," wrote Prime Minister and leader of the Labor Party Keir Starmer in a handwritten letter. "I am very sad that your time as Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State and Deputy Leader of the Labor Party has ended in this way."

She also received praise from Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and former Labor Party leader Ed Miliband, who called her "one of the great British political figures of our time" in an X post Friday.

"I know she will continue to stand at the front of the fight for social justice in this country," he added.

However, other British political parties criticized Rayner and Starmer.

"What did Keir Starmer know, and when?" asked Conservative Party leader and Member of Parliament, or MP Kemi Badenoch in a video clip posted online. "Did he mislead the public?"

"He has now lost a Deputy Prime Minister after losing a Transport Secretary, an Anti-Corruption minister and a Homelessness minister to scandal," she continued, noting other members of Starmer's administration who have resigned over varied reasons.

"You can't be Housing Secretary, and avoid [$53,731] of stamp duty," said Reform UK leader MP Nigel Farage in an online video. "Angela Rayner is gone."