Labour’s low profile housing spokesperson during the coalition government Emma Reynolds has resigned from the opposition front bench in protest at the landslide leadership victory by Jeremy Corbyn.
Reynolds - who was the little heard-of shadow communities secretary since the May general election - quit the role within minutes of Corbyn’s victory on Saturday.
At first, after the result was announced, she tweeted: “Congratulations to @Corbyn4Leader and @TomForDeputy for being elected as leader and deputy of our party. #labourleadership”
A few moments later she updated followers by tweeting: Congratulations to @jeremyforlabour - he needs to space to build his own team. I will serve our party and my constituents from backbenches.
Later in the day she tweeted about her opposition to leaving NATO and opposition to leaving the EU - both policies which Corbyn says he is considering, although has not yet formally agreed.
Arguably the best-known action by Reynolds during her roles with responsibility for housing has been a well-publicised U-turn on rent controls.
Back in January 2014, in her early period as shadow housing minister, Reynolds tweeted: “To be clear .... it is not Labour party policy to introduce rent controls.”
More recently in March of this year Reynolds told the Association of Residential Letting Agents that “[we] don’t want to introduce rent controls, so don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers.”
But a month later the party’s then-leader Ed Miliband announced the concept of what he called rent caps, which was a plank in the party’s election manifesto - which Reynolds backed.
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