Labour homelessness minister resigns after being called for ‘extreme hypocrisy’ after she ‘threw out FOUR tenants then raised rent on her London home by £700’
Labour‘s homelessness minister was forced to quit on Thursday night after an embarrassing eviction row.
Rushanara Ali was accused of ‘staggering hypocrisy’ amid claims she ejected tenants from one of her homes, before putting it back on the market for an extra £700 a month rent.
Following mounting calls to resign, she announced she would stand down from the government to avoid becoming ‘a distraction’.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, there was no apology with Ms Ali insisting that she had followed ‘all relevant legal requirements’ and said she ‘took my responsibilities and duties seriously’.
Her resignation came after it emerged that she had hiked rent on a property she owns by hundreds of pounds just weeks after the previous tenants’ contract ended.
Ms Ali, 50, has repeatedly cast herself as a voice for hard-up tenants, and spoke out against private renters ‘being exploited and discriminated against’.
And she championed the Renters’ Rights Bill, currently going through Parliament, which will ban landlords who evict tenants from re-listing a property for a higher rent until at least six months after the occupants have left. Her actions would have been illegal under this law.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch had led the calls for Ms Ali to be sacked, telling the Daily Mail: ‘I warned that Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill was a mess. Now we find out the minister responsible is doing the opposite of the what the Bill proposed – the homelessness minister is making people homeless.
Labour MP Rushanara Ali has resigned as homelessness minister after she allegedly threw out her own tenants and then raised the rent on her London home
She told PM Sir Keir Starmer in her resignation letter that ‘it is clear continuing in her role will be a distraction from the ambitious work of the government’
Ms Ali’s resignation letter to the Prime Minister announcing her resignation as homelessness minister
‘Rushanara Ali’s hypocrisy is shameful.’
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake added: ‘I think it shows staggering hypocrisy. Rushanara Ali has been somebody who’s obviously a government minister in charge of homelessness. She’s spoken out about exploiting tenants, about providing more protections to tenants.
‘You can’t say those things, then do the opposite in practice, as a landlord.’
He said the conduct appeared to be ‘unethical, not illegal’ but ‘we can’t just say one thing and do another’.
Ms Ali is the third Labour minister to have resigned over a personal matter.
Tulip Siddiq resigned as City minister in mid-January, 26 days after the Mail revealed she was facing a major corruption probe in Bangladesh, which she denies.
And Louise Haigh stepped down as Transport Secretary in November last year following media revelations that she had pleaded guilty to a fraud charge a decade ago.
Ms Ali is alleged to have told four tenants to move out of the £900,000 four-bedroom home in east London, only to relist the property at a rent of £4,000 a month – a £700 increase – amid suggestions she failed to find a buyer for the property.
Laura Jackson, a 33-year-old self-employed restaurant owner, was one of those who rented out the house – roughly a mile from the Olympic Park – in March 2024 at £3,300 a month.
She then received an email in November telling her the lease would not be renewed this year, and that she and her housemates would need to move out, giving them four months notice, taking them to March. The current occupants are said to have moved in ‘four to five months’ ago on the increased terms.
Responding to Ms Ali’s resignation, shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly said: ‘I said that her actions were total hypocrisy and that she should go if the accusations were shown to be true’
Ms Ali is pictured with Labour housing chief and deputy party leader Angela Rayner
Responding to her resignation letter, Sir Keir Starmer said Ms Ali’s ‘diligent work’ at the Ministry of Housing ‘will have a significant impact’
Ms Jackson told the i newspaper: ‘It’s an absolute joke. Trying to get that much money from renters is extortion.
‘It’s morally wrong that MPs can be landlords, especially in their own area. It’s a conflict of interest.’
The now ex-minister’s actions would be illegal under long-awaited legislation to improve renters’ rights which is in its final stages after passing the House of Lords last month.
Sources close to Ms Ali told the i the tenants were offered a rolling contract while the house was up for sale and that it only went back on the rental market when no buyer emerged.
Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, described the allegations as ‘shocking and a wake-up call to Government on the need to push ahead as quickly as possible to improve protections for renters’.
He added: ‘It is bad enough when any landlord turfs out their tenant to hike up the rent, or tries their luck with unfair claims on the deposit, but the minister responsible for homelessness knows only too well about the harm caused by this behaviour.’
‘Allegations of hypocrisy can be very damaging to policy agendas,’ he warned.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper insisted Ms Ali had not breached any rules and it is understood that the Prime Minister had ‘full confidence’ in the MP, who has represented Bethnal Green and Stepney since 2010, right up until she resigned.
She is an ally of Sir Keir, having backed him in the Labour leadership race in 2020.
Ms Ali had served as Labour’s minister for homelessness since the party’s election win in July 2024. She is pictured here with former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Ms Ali previously described how Labour would abolish no-fault evictions, designed to offer greater protections for tenants.
Last year, the minister said new laws would prevent ‘private renters from being exploited and discriminated against’.
She told the Commons: ‘The Renters’ Rights Bill will give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer.’
And in 2013, during her first term as an MP, she spoke out about the dismal state of the rental and mortgage market in her constituency. She said: ‘This is fast becoming an unaffordable borough to anyone earning below £50,000.
‘The only young people who can get a home of their own tend to be those whose parents can afford to help them.’
Ms Ali briefly ran for the Labour deputy leadership in 2015 but pulled out.
It is believed she owns at least one other property in the area.
Responding to her resignation letter, Sir Keir Starmer said Ms Ali’s ‘diligent work’ at the Ministry of Housing ‘will have a significant impact’.
‘You have also begun the process of delivering landmark reforms including tackling harassment and intimidation in public life and encouraging more people to engage and participate in our democracy. This will leave a lasting legacy,’ the PM wrote.
