Ms Rayner picks up the mantle of the role she lost barely 10 months ago when she resigned from Sir Keir Starmer's cabinet

Wes Streeting will not be paid for his first three months as Defence Secretary to offset his resignation pay-off, despite Housing Secretary Angela Rayner not returning hers.

After Mr Streeting resigned from his role as Health Secretary, he was entitled to a pay-off of £16,876, which is equivalent to three months of a cabinet minister’s salary.

However, the Ilford North MP will not take his ministerial salary during his first three months at the Ministry of Defence, reports HuffPost.

This is in contrast to Angela Rayner, who rejected pleas from the Conservatives to hand back her severance pay, even though the Ashton-under-Lyne MP is under no obligation to do so.

The Housing Secretary said: "No, my severance payment was given to me at the time.

"I’d worked in Government for a period of time, and then I came out of government for just under a year, I think is the timetable, and I’ll be delivering in Government again."

She was compelled to leave her positions as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary last September after an investigation revealed she had underpaid £40,000 in stamp duty on an £800,000 property she owned in Hove, East Sussex.

The tax controversy forced her departure from Labour's frontbench in disgrace, and she only resolved the outstanding bill with HMRC in May of this year.

Ms Rayner has maintained HMRC's inquiry found no deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness on her part, and she had always acted "in good faith" throughout.

The decision not to repay the substantial severance pay has faced criticism from various opposition parties, including Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly.

He told the Daily Mail: “She pocketed a £17,000 reward courtesy of the taxpayer, and now she's got her old job back courtesy of her mate Andy Burnham, who wants to hike taxes on the family home for everyone else.”

The former Home Secretary said: "Ms Rayner should hand back the cash. Her reappointment just confirms that there is one rule for Labour, and another for everyone else."

Red Wall voters have savaged the appointment of Ms Rayner, with residents of Worksop, Nottinghamshire telling GB News that reappointing her was "another mistake".

Appearing on GB News, Kelvin MacKenzie criticised the Housing Minister’s decision not to hand back the substantial severance pay she received upon initially leaving the post.

He said: "You would have thought that, as part of the deal of coming back, Andy Burnham would have said she has got to pay the money back because there will be a political row about this. Obviously he never said that,” Mr MacKenzie began.

Mr MacKenzie added: "I object to the fact she got it. And now I object to the fact she won't give it back.

“That will hang around her neck. Her political future is now over.

"She will sit there as Housing Secretary for three years, and then she will disappear.

“I can't think of a worse advert for the Labour Party and for politics generally,” he said.