2024 Labour Party freebies controversy

In September 2024, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced controversy after reports that he had failed to declare a gift of several thousands pounds worth of clothes to his wife by Labour Party donor Waheed Alli, Baron Alli. Subsequent debate arose over the number of gifts accepted by Starmer during his time as leader of the Labour Party, with Reuters reporting that he had accepted more gifts than any other MP since 2019.

Background

Keir Starmer, leader of the UK Labour Party and MP for Holborn and St Pancras, became the British Prime Minister following the 2024 United Kingdom general election, in which Labour won a significant majority. Standards in public office were a major point of debate in the election, following a number of scandals under the previous Conservative Party government, including the 2024 United Kingdom general election date betting controversy, Partygate, and the Downing Street refurbishment controversy.

Timeline

On 15 September 2024, reports emerged in the British media that Starmer had initially failed to declare £5,000 of gifts used to purchase clothes for his wife, Victoria Starmer. The gifts had been given by Waheed Alli, Baron Alli, who had also given Starmer a number of clothing-related gifts, including £2,435 worth of eyeglasses, and had given Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner gifts worth £3,550 of clothes in June 2024.

It was subsequently reported that Starmer had accepted over £107,145 worth of gifts, benefits, and hospitality since the 2019 United Kingdom general election, including tickets to Arsenal F.C. matches and Taylor Swift concerts, two-and-a-half times more than any other MP. It was also reported that Health Secretary Wes Streeting had been gifted four Taylor Swift concert tickets, worth a total of £1,160, by The Football Association, and that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves had accepted £7,500 worth of clothes in 2024 from Juliet Rosenfeld, which were registered as donations "to support the shadow chancellor's office".

On 17 September, 10 Downing Street announced that Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg would not investigate the gifts.

On Friday 20 September, as the 2024 Labour Party Conference was set to begin, Starmer as well as Reeves and Rayner announced they would no longer accept clothes from donors. That weekend, The Mail on Sunday reported that Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson had received a £14,000 gift from Alli for her 40th birthday party. Phillipson defended the gift, saying that it had been used "to get people together in a professional context" ahead of her birthday party and that it had been properly declared in the register of interests. Phillipson also admitted to accepting Taylor Swift concert tickets, saying that it was "hard to say no". When Alli was asked about the controversy at the Conference by a Sky News reporter, he stated that he didn't want to be asked about it, saying that the questions were "not very nice." That same weekend, Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell stated that the government had "no plans" to change the rules on MP accepting gifts.

Starmer admitted to accepting accommodation worth £20,000 from Lord Alli between May and July 2024, confirming that the offer was for somewhere his son could study peacefully for his GCSEs.

Analysis

George Eaton of the New Statesman that the controversy could not be described as a scandal, as no Parliamentary rules were broken nor was there clear evidence that any improper favour had been sought by those who offered Starmer gifts. However, Eaton argued that the controversy still posed a political problem for Labour, as it left them facing accusations of hypocrisy and that it risked conflicting with the government's message of budget austerity. Sam Power of the University of Bristol wrote that, although the public may not interpret the gifts as evidence that the government would change policy for donors, the controversy did "speak to a general sense of unfairness – that the very rich have a proximity to power that others simply don’t."

Daniel Boffey of The Guardian wrote that "the issue of clothing and image has been a central cause" of discomfort for the partners of prime ministers in British history, due to their high profile in the media.

Reactions

Starmer stated that there was a "massive difference between declarations and corruption," saying that "all MPs get gifts" and that as Prime Minister, he "can’t go into the stands because of security reasons. Therefore, if I don’t accept a gift of hospitality, I can’t go to a game."

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden defended Starmer over the controversy, saying that Starmer "will, and does, conduct himself with integrity" and that the controversy was "because of taking advice and trying to make sure you abide by the rules." Foreign Secretary David Lammy stated that British prime ministers "do rely on political donations so they can look their best both in the hope of representing the country."

Former Labour Party Deputy Leader Harriet Harman criticised Starmer's response to the controversy, saying that Starmer was "not a sort of money focused, greedy type person," but that "doubling down and trying to justify it is making things worse." Former Labour Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell criticised Starmer for accepting the gifts while "talking about tough decisions and painful policies coming and possibly a new wave of austerity," adding that Labour Party founder Keir Hardie attended Parliament in "an ordinary working man’s suit instead of the usual formal dress and he did so because he wanted to make the point that we represent working people." The Guardian published an editorial warning that the Labour government did not have the benefit of a political honeymoon and that it was "hard to believe that a leader who laid such stress on the need to rebuild trust in politics should behave so naively."

See also

• List of political scandals in the United Kingdom