Revealed: The glossy photos of Angela Rayner hard at work (and drinking whisky through a straw), taken by her taxpayer-funded ‘vanity photographer’ – after she criticised the Tories for doing the same

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner beams as she sips whisky through a straw while posing for photographs taken by her ‘vanity photographer’.

The light-hearted photo, taken during a visit to Scotland, sits alongside more serious photographs of her, taken by Simon Walker, which find her hard at work in the short weeks since Labour won the election.

Other glossy PR photos show her meeting her Pakistani counterpart, hosting a Make Work Pay breakfast meeting and visiting a John Lewis department store with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The Mail reported today that Ms Rayner, who has long been in the news over donations from Labour donors and may face an investigation into her sloppiness, is at risk of a fresh storm over the appointment of Mr Walker, which will give him a salary of £68,000.

He has been given the title of Chief Photographer by the Deputy PM and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. He previously worked as Rishi Sunak’s chief photographer.

Labour Party officials deny recruiting a “vanity photographer” for the DPM, something Ms Rayner condemned when she was in opposition.

In 2021, when Boris Johnson was prime minister, she said: ‘The public will rightly wonder why there is apparently no limit to the amount of money that can be made available to pay a cadre of vanity photographers for the prime minister.’

Ms Rayner during a visit to the Johnnie Walker Whisky Experience in Edinburgh in August, where she ‘met senior business leaders, discussed the importance of the whisky industry to Scotland and was shown around’.

Ms Rayner and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan with John Lewis Director Peter Ruis and Deputy Store Manager Melissa Lidder in London earlier this month

At the Foreign Office with the United Kingdom High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott, the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohammad Ishaq Dar and the Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Dr. Mohammad Faisal

With Secretary of State for Trade and Business Jonathan Reynolds at a Make Work Pay Business Breakfast meeting with business leaders at 10 Downing Street

In 2021, when Boris Johnson was prime minister, she said: ‘The public will rightly wonder why there is apparently no limit to the amount of money that can be made available to pay a cadre of vanity photographers for the prime minister.’

Mr Walker previously worked at No 10 as Rishi Sunak’s chief photographer.

This morning Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted he was not Ms Rayner’s “personal photographer”.

She told Times Radio: ‘All government departments under all governments have press officers and communications budgets. It’s not a personal photographer.’

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the photographer was hired to document the work of the department, not just that of Ms Rayner.

“Many government services use official photographers to share the work of the service and ministers with the public,” the ministry said.

‘This is a government position and you will be part of the MHCLG communications team.’

But a Conservative Party source said: ‘Are there bigger vanity projects than the Deputy Prime Minister with her thousands of pounds of free clothes, her luxury free holiday and now her government-paid photographer?’

In Downing Street earlier this month

During the first Make Work Pay meeting

Mr Walker was previously Rishi Sunak’s chief photographer when he was Prime Minister, and photographed him as he left No10 following his election defeat in July

In late August, Ms Rayner took a photographer with her when she visited the scene of a house fire in Dagenham, east London, where she met ‘firefighters and other key emergency workers’

Asked on BBC Breakfast whether the appointment was a waste of public money, Ms Reeves said the government was committed to reducing its communications budget, but reiterated that all departments had media staff and photographers.

‘Not for individual politicians, but to support the policy work, the campaign work and the initiatives of government departments, to help government departments do their work.

‘This is not to support Angela Rayner as a Labour Party politician. This is to support the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government.’

Mr Walker started out as a freelancer in 1987, working as a photographer for the Daily Express and The Times. In 2004 he became News Picture Editor at The Times.

After leaving Reuters’ photo desk in 2018, he briefly worked as a consultant, before joining HMRC in late 2019 and then the Treasury.

Mr Rayner has been reported to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, accused of failing to properly declare an apartment in New York.

In the letter sent to the watchdog yesterday, the Conservatives say the deputy first minister may have broken the rules by failing to admit she was staying with former MP and her ex-boyfriend Sam Tarry.

Mrs Rayner yesterday insisted she had correctly declared the five days she spent in the luxurious $2.5 million (£1.8 million) Manhattan apartment she received from donor Lord Alli.

In yesterday’s letter to the watchdog, the Conservatives say the deputy prime minister may have broken the rules by failing to admit she was staying with former MP and her ex-boyfriend Sam Tarry (pictured March 2023)

Mrs Rayner yesterday insisted she had correctly declared the five days in the lavish $2.5million (£1.8million) Manhattan apartment gifted to her by donor Lord Alli (pictured).

But when she recorded the trip, she failed to mention that Mr Tarry was staying with her, a move the Conservatives say breaches the House of Commons Code of Conduct.

She and Mr Tarry stayed in the apartment, which has a roof terrace, courtyard and gym, from December 29 to January 2 this year, The Sunday Times reported.

The building’s website describes it as the heart of the theatre district with “incredible views” across the Hudson River and New Jersey. The two-bedroom, 1,300 square foot property was lent to Ms Rayner by the Labour donor in the middle of the row as gifts to the Prime Minister and his wife.

She says Lord Alli – who has given her more than £50,000 over the past four years – is primarily a personal friend, but she chose to report the stay because he was also a donor to her political activities.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards investigates possible breaches of the Code of Conduct for MPs and can order members to update their register or apologise to the House of Commons.

According to the parliamentary register of interests, Ms Rayner was allocated an apartment as accommodation for five nights to enjoy a “personal holiday” in New York.

The rules state that MPs must declare any foreign travel they, or someone connected to them, make if a donor pays for ‘part or all’ of the travel as a result of their ‘parliamentary or political activities’.

Ms Rayner’s team claim that she did not have to declare that Mr Tarry, the former MP for Ilford South, had joined her because Lord Alli was not aware of this.