LONDON — Angela Rayner resigned as Britain’s deputy prime minister Friday after an investigation into her controversial property arrangements.

Rayner was subject of an investigation by the government’s ethics watchdog after admitting she failed to pay the correct amount of tax — known as stamp duty — on the purchase of a second property.

Her exit is the latest blow for Britain’s center-left Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is floundering in the polls and tried to reset his administration with a backroom shake-up just this week.

Rayner, who has served as housing secretary and deputy PM since Labour entered government last year, was seen as one of the Cabinet’s better communicators and served as an important bridge between Starmer, his parliamentary party, and Labour’s trade union backers.

This developing story is being updated.