Keir Starmer is urged to come clean on his relationship with Lord Alli amid extraordinary new claims about the multi-millionaire donor’s influence in Government – as Tories demand urgent interests investigation
Keir Starmer was facing fresh questions about his relationship with multi-millionaire donor Lord Alli last night following extraordinary new claims about his influence.
A new book on Labour’s rise to power is set to reveal how the businessman was involved in major roles, including drawing up the timetable for the party’s first 100 days, advising on appointments and even attending talks with civil servants.
The revelations threatened to reignite the ‘cash-for-access’ row and derail the PM’s attempt to reset his government at the weekend by ousting his chief of staff Sue Gray.
One poll yesterday found that voters now believe Sir Keir is ‘sleazier’ than his Tory predecessor Rishi Sunak. Another survey revealed that the new PM’s net satisfaction rating has plummeted to minus 33 after just three months in government.
Sir Keir has faced controversy for weeks over the activities of Lord Alli who was handed a pass to Downing Street after bankrolling a string of senior Labour politicians in the run-up to the election.
A new book is set to shine a light on Labour peer Lord Alli’s influence on government and his major roles in advising on appointments and attending talks with civil servants
One poll yesterday found that voters now believe Sir Keir (pictured in the House of Commons on Monday) is ‘sleazier’ than his Tory predecessor Rishi Sunak
The revelations threaten to derail the PM’s attempt to reset his government after the resignation of his chief-of-staff Sue Gray
The successful entrepreneur, who was made a peer by Tony Blair, provided Sir Keir with clothes worth £32,000, along with designer glasses worth £2,400 and use of his £18 million penthouse in London’s Covent Garden.
The PM has refused to explain exactly what part he played in Labour’s plans, saying only that he was ‘doing some transition work with us’.
But a preview of a new book yesterday reported he was given an extensive role in Labour’s preparations for government.
Political journalist Tim Ross, author of Landslide: The inside story of the 2024 election, written with co-author Rachel Wearmouth, wrote yesterday in Politico that Lord Alli was ‘brought in’ by Ms Gray to help draw up plans for a new Labour government to hit the ground running.
‘He worked on designing both the official grid of announcements and events for the first 100 days in power. He also helped design the organisational structure for Starmer’s team of special advisers inside Downing Street,’ he wrote.
The book preview also claims Lord Alli accompanied Ms Gray to so-called ‘access talks’ with civil servants to help map out Labour’s priorities for government.
Labour declined to comment in detail on the claims, although sources acknowledged Lord Alli had hosted pre-election talks on the party’s transition to government at his £4 million townhouse in Soho.
One Labour insider said the so-called ‘grid’ of announcements ‘barely existed’, which was a key part of Sir Keir’s decision to reshape his top team this weekend.
Lord Alli did not respond to a request for comment.
Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick last night called for an investigation by the government’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests Sir Laurie Magnus.
Lord Alli provided Sir Keir with clothes worth £32,000, along with designer glasses worth £2,400 and use of his £18 million penthouse in London ’s Covent Garden
Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick (pictured at Tory conference) called for claims surrounding Lord Alli to be investigated by the PM’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests
Mr Jenrick said formal access talks, which take place between shadow ministers and Whitehall mandarins in the run up to elections are ‘an essential function of our democracy’ meant for senior politicians ‘not donors that buy your suits’.
He added: ‘The murkiness engulfing this government must end. The Prime Minister urgently needs to refer this matter to the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests to assess whether these ‘cash-for-access-talks’ breached the ministerial code.
‘Ousting his chief-of-staff won’t wash away the stench of hypocrisy and sleaze lingering over Downing Street.’
Fellow Tory Andrew Griffith also urged the PM to come clean about Lord Alli’s precise role.
‘Any pretence at competence by this Labour government is unravelling by the hour,’ he said.
Any “reset” needs to start with complete transparency about what role this unelected donor has actually played.’
Labour has struggled to deal with questions about the influence of Lord Alli, who showered senior figures with cash during the election campaign.
As well as his gifts of clothes and glasses to the Prime Minister, Lord Alli gave clothes worth more than £6,000 to his wife Victoria. The PM has also registered a £20,000 donation from the Labour peer relating to the use of his Covent Garden penthouse for six weeks during the election campaign, which he claims was needed to allow his teenage son to study for his GCSE exams in peace.
In total, Lord Alli has bankrolled at least seven members of the Cabinet. Beneficiaries include the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who has received donations totalling £72,450 since 2020, including the use of Lord Alli’s luxury Manhattan apartment for a five-night holiday.
Others who received thousands of pounds from the long-time Labour supporter include the health secretary Wes Streeting, the education secretary Bridget Phillipson, the energy secretary Ed Miliband and the foreign secretary David Lammy.
Lord Alli also gave a £10,000 donation to Ms Gray’s son Liam Conlon to help with his successful campaign to become a Labour MP.
Senior Labour figures have insisted that Lord Alli has no ulterior motive and was interested solely in helping the party win the election and make a success of government.
Sir Keir and Lady Starmer at the Labour Party Conference last month. As well as his gifts of clothes and glasses to the Prime Minister, Lord Alli gave clothes worth more than £6,000 to his wife Victoria
Other cabinet ministers who benefitted from thousands of pounds from the Labour peer include Health Secretary Wes Streeting (pictured at Labour conference)
But public anger over the ‘freebies’ row is now alarming Labour MPs.
A YouGov poll yesterday found that 59 per cent of voters believe the Labour government is ‘sleazy’. The figure is lower than the 77 per cent recorded for the post-2019 Conservative governments. But Sir Keir fares worse, with people saying he is ‘more sleazy’ than Mr Sunak by a margin of 35:28.
Sir Keir tried to calm public anger about the row last week by offering to repay more than £6,000 in donations relating to Taylor Swift concert tickets, a clothing rental agreement for his wife and four tickets to the races.
But veteran Labour MP Graeme Stringer urged Sir Keir should repay all donations, which total more than £100,000.
He told GB News: ‘Basically, members of the Cabinet should not be receiving gifts from multi-millionaires.
‘People out there want to know… what is the millionaire expecting? I’m not saying he’s getting anything, but what might he be expecting is he just influenced what is it in the normal world, if there is an exchange of thousands and thousands of pounds, people expect something from it.
‘Keir started to make amends. He’s paid £6,000 pounds back, he should pay the lot back.’
Six in ten think Labour’s ‘sleazy’
