Angela Rayner brands Rishi Sunak 'a pint

Angela Rayner mocked Rishi Sunak's height today as she came under pressure over her historic housing arrangements at Deputy Prime Minister's Questions.

The Labour deputy leader lashed out as she faced jibes from Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and other Tory MPs in the Commons, as they stood in for Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.

Ms Rayner is being investigated by Greater Manchester Police over whether she correctly registered to vote at her main home almost a decade ago, amid claims that she lived elsewhere with her husband.

She tackled the subject head-on at the start of DPMQs, using it as a way to attack the government over leasehold reform.

But she later went on the offensive with an attack on the PM, who is in Germany holding talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Referencing Mr Sunak's resignation in 2022 which is seen as having precipitated the end of Boris Johnson's premiership, she said the Tories had swapped 'their biggest election winner for a pint-sized loser'.

Mr Dowden countered the jibes by suggesting the 'right honourable landlady' should step down, adding the Labour MP might start claiming the House of Commons as her principal residence if the pair were required to deputise again at Prime Minister's Questions. 

The Labour deputy leader lashed out as she faced jibes from Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and other Tory MPs in the Commons, as they stood in for Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.

The PM  is in Germany holding talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and to meet UK soldiers based in the country (pictured)

Mr Dowden replied: 'To begin with it, is a pleasure to have another exchange with (Ms Rayner) in this House, our fifth in 12 months, anymore of these and she'll be claiming it as her principal residence.'

With Mr Sunak in Berlin, Ms Rayner and Deputy Prime Minister Mr Dowden took centre stage in the Commons on Wednesday.

But Ms Rayner pre-empted an attack line against her and opened the session by saying: 'I know this party opposite is desperate to talk about my living arrangements, but the public want to know what this Government is going to do about theirs.'

She raised the case of a Brighton woman served with two no-fault eviction notices in 18 months, adding: 'She joins nearly a million families at risk of homelessness due to his party's failure to ban this cruel practice.

'Now instead of obsessing over my house, when will he get a grip and show the same obsession with ending no-fault evictions?'

Mr Dowden replied: 'To begin with, it is a pleasure to have another exchange with (Ms Rayner) in this House, our fifth in 12 months, anymore of these and she'll be claiming it as her principal residence.'

Mr Dowden later highlighted the Government's plans to boost defence spending, with Ms Rayner saying: 'We all want to see 2.5%, the difference is that we haven't cut the army to its smallest size since Napoleon.

'Never mind some secretive deep state, it's the state of the Tory party that's the problem. They're in a deep state of sewage.

'After 14 years they've failed renters, they've failed leaseholders and they've failed mortgage-holders.

At just 5ft 6inches tall, the former Chancellor is the shortest occupant of Number 10 since Winston Churchill. At 5ft 5in, Second World War hero Sir Winston was shorter than Mr Sunak

Mr Sunak, who is now joining the 'under 5ft 7in club' of European leaders. French president Emmanuel Macron is just under 5ft 7in, whilst Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is 5ft 6

'But I read with interest that (Mr Dowden) has been urging his neighbour in No 10 to call an election because he's worried they might get wiped out.

'Has he finally realised that when he stabbed Boris Johnson in the back to get his mate into No 10 he was ditching their biggest election winner for a pint-sized loser?'

Mr Dowden replied: 'I think the whole House will have heard, despite all the bluster from the lady opposite, not a single word on whether she would actually back our plans to invest in our armed forces, no plans in a dangerous world.

'And of course, as ever, the deputy leader is always looking to attack others' failures but never the one to take responsibility for her own.

'She once said you shouldn't be waiting for the police to bang on your door, if you did it then you shouldn't be doing your job.

'The right honourable landlady should forget her tax advice and follow her own advice.'