Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has been accused of plotting a 240-mile "chicken run" from her Red Wall seat of Ashton-under-Lyne to the liberal enclave of Hove & Portslade.
Ms Rayner is facing fury over her decision to purchase a second home in the seaside town at the cost of almost £800,000.
The Tories have raised the matter with Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, saying her behaviour had been “unethical”.
However, Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice suggested some political cynicism was at play.
He told The Telegraph: “Angela Rayner is so terrified of losing her seat to Reform at the next election, she is buying herself an option to take on the Greens in Brighton. The ultimate plant-based chicken run.”
Putting more pressure on Ms Rayner, Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Mike Wood said: “Angela Rayner needs to come clean on whether she has flipped her homes to line up running in Brighton and Hove in the next election.
“It’s not credible for her to tell the council in Tameside it’s her primary home when she’s bolted and living elsewhere.”
GB News has now decided to track Ms Rayner's political support in Ashton-under-Lyne and compare the trends to Labour's support on the Sussex seaside.
GB News has mapped just how far Angela Rayner could be preparing to dash
|GB NEWS
2015 General Election
Care worker and Unison trade representative Angela Rayner first stood in Ashton-under-Lyne in the 2015 General Election.
Having missed out on securing the candidacy for Manchester Withington in 2013, Ms Rayner inherited the safe Labour seat from David Heyes.
Ashton-under-Lyne had returned a Labour MP in every General Election since 1935, with Ms Rayner going into the 2010 poll with Mr Heyes's majority standing at 9,094.
Ms Rayner extended Labour's lead to 10,756 votes, with the Tories holding onto second spot on 8,610 and Ukip surging from fifth to third on 8,468.
Angela Rayner is thought to have saved £40,000 | PA2017 General Election
As Jeremy Corbyn fever swept up much of left-leaning England, Ms Rayner's support jumped to 24,005, handing the then-Shadow Education Secretary a 11,295 vote lead over now-Tory MP for Windsor Jack Rankin.
Meanwhile, Ukip's support collapsed from 8,468 votes to just 1,878 ballots, leaving Maurice Jackson without the opportunity to reclaim his deposit.
The now-Deputy Prime Minister had by this point established herself as a major figure in Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet.
She was regularly appearing on the media rounds and even supported the creation of a National Education Service.
2019 General Election
Despite Boris Johnson's Tories sweeping across much of the Red Wall, Ms Rayner managed to hold onto her Greater Manchester seat.
Almost two-thirds of voters in Ashton-under-Lyne had voted in favour of Brexit, making the seat particularly vulnerable to the former Prime Minister's Eurosceptic messaging.
However, Ms Rayner's lead in 2017 proved just too significant to overcome, with the then-Shadow Education Secretary clinging on by just 4,263 votes.
The Brexit Party, which topped the poll in Ashton-under-Lyne in the 2019 European Parliament Election, also struggled to emulate its success from just a few months before.
Derek Brocklehurst secured just 3,151 votes, putting Mr Farage's challenger party in a distant third-place.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has forked out £700,000 on a third home | PA2024 General Election
However, Mr Farage's fortunes had been transformed by the time of the 2024 General Election.
The Tories finally lost its grip as the main challenger to Ms Rayner, dropping into third on just 4,375 votes.
Meanwhile, Reform UK ended up receiving 8,784 votes, just 6,791 votes behind Ms Rayner's overall tally of 15,575 ballots.
Ashton-under-Lyne was almost immediately placed in Mr Farage's sights ahead of 2029.
The Greater Manchester seat was one of 98 seats where Reform UK had finished second.
MRP polls and Nowcast projection
Angela Rayner's support in Ashton-under-Lyne tracked
|GB NEWS
YouGov - Reform UK leads by four per cent
More in Common - Reform UK leads by 22 per cent
Nowcast - Reform UK leads by 17 per cent
Hove & Portslade
A man jogging in Hove - where Angela Rayner has just bought a seaside flat
|GETTY
While Ashton-under-Lyne has been slipping away from Labour, Hove & Portslade is becoming increasingly safe.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle entered the House of Commons on the same day as Ms Rayner, snatching the Sussex seaside seat from the Conservative Party by just 1,236 votes in 2015.
However, as the Remain-voting seat punished the Tories, Mr Kyle's lead surged to 18,757 over the Tories.
Mr Kyle's advantage was just marginally after the 2019 General Election, down to 17,044 ballots.
But a right-wing fightback failed to materialise in the 2024 General Election.
Mr Kyle is now sat with a 19,881-vote majority over Green challenger Sophie Broadbent, with the Tories and Reform UK languishing in a distant third and fourth respectively.