Listed: The top 10 MPs accepting gifts since 2019
Ed Davey, Keir Starmer and Lucy Powell made the top 10 MPs accepting gifts list
PA
Sir Keir Starmer has faced scrutiny for the scale of gifts given to him from Labour donor Waheed Alli who has paid for the prime minister's clothing, accommodation and glasses.
Since December 2019, the prime minister has received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality.
This figure has been higher than that of other major party leaders recently and leaves him receiving more freebies than any other MP since becoming Labour leader.
Starmer has accepted almost 40 sets of free tickets during his time as Labour leader, mostly to football matches, but also £4,000 worth of hospitality at a Taylor Swift concert and £698 of Coldplay tickets.
Top 10 MPs accepting gifts
Total value of gifts accepted*, declared since the December 2019 general election
Sky News/Tortoise Westminster Accounts • *Excluding legal fees
Government officials are worried the prime minister’s willingness to accept hospitality to go to football matches could be a conflict of interest given plans to overhaul the sport’s regulator, which many clubs oppose.
The prime minister received two-and-a-half times more gifts of hospitality than the next MP Commons leader Lucy Powell on £40,289.
He also received gifts roughly equivalent to the next five MPs on the list combined.
Most of Starmer’s gifts and hospitality - £86,708 of the £107,145 – were accepted in the last parliament but £20,437 was declared for this parliament for accommodation that straddles the two periods.
Waheed Alli was the biggest donor of gifts including an unspecified donation of accommodation worth £20,437, “work clothing” worth £16,000 and multiple pairs of glasses equivalent to £2,485.
Earlier this week, Starmer justified his right to take football freebies arguing there would be no other way for him to get to matches due to security concerns.
He said: “If I don't accept a gift of hospitality, I can't go to a game. You could say: 'Well, bad luck.' That's why gifts have to be registered. But, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can't accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.”
In comparison to Starmer, other major party leaders have not declared so many free tickets and hospitality.
Starmer accepted £4,000 worth of hospitality at a Taylor Swift concert
X@keirstarmer
LATEST FROM MEMBERSHIP:
- When will it become clear if you work from home you do less? I forecast an atrocious ride under Labour - Kelvin Mackenzie
- Get FIVE free entries to the Great British Giveaway when you become a GBN member in September
- Nigel Farage's 'security situation changed significantly' after claims he incited the riots
As opposition party leader, David Cameron declared one set of Rugby World Cup tickets and was hosted at the Conservative party’s Black and White ball with various hamper gifts.
He also registered £4,475 discounted personal training sessions.
Although the value is more difficult to quantify as the rules of declarations were tightened after 2010, the volume of registered gifts is far lower than Starmer's.
Rishi Sunak declared no personal hospitality apart from honorary membership of the Carlton Club worth £2,595.
You may like
