Sir Keir Starmer is mired in the first major sleaze row of his premiership today as he faces questions about why a millionaire party donor who coughed up £16,000 to update his wardrobe was given unrestricted access to No10.
The Tories are demanding a probe into how former Asos chairman and media mogul Lord Alli received a Downing Street security pass after the general election in July.
The pass – which Labour says was temporary and has since lapsed – was granted after the peer bankrolled Sir Keir, his top team and associates in the months before the vote returned the party to power for the first time in 14 years.
The highly unusual move meant the millionaire TV mogul, who was hired by Sir Keir as the party’s chief fundraiser, could attend political meetings in No 10 and is said to have helped organise a Downing Street garden party to thank others who bankrolled the campaign.
As well as a five-figure donation towards the leader’s ‘work attire’ – branded ‘unremarkable’ by one fashion expert – the 59-year-old also paid for his glasses and accommodation for a five-night trip to New York for deputy PM Angela Rayner.
He also donated £10,000 to Liam Conlon, the Labour MP for Beckenham and Penge whose mother is Sue Gray, Sir Keir’s chief of staff.
There were also five-figure sums for David Lammy, now the Foreign Secretary, and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Shadow paymaster general John Glen has written to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, to request clarification on who authorised Lord Alli’s pass, and when it was issued and rescinded.
Mr Glen said in his letter: ‘A Downing Street pass should be a privilege reserved for those that require access for work, including civil servants and special advisers, not those requiring occasional access as is possible through the Visitor Notification System, without requiring a permanent security pass.
‘It is therefore deeply concerning that a pass was granted to a Labour donor providing unfettered access to the heart of government after significant cash and non-cash donations were made to the Labour Party.’
Mr Glen also asked whether any other donors had received security passes for Number 10 and if any other temporary passes had been issued.
The Government has been accused of cronyism that is ‘rotting politics to its core’ following a string of controversial appointments since coming to power.
As the ‘passes for glasses’ row threatens to derail Sir Keir’s speech on the state of the public finances tomorrow, ministers and government sources rushed to insist that Lord Alli had been given only a temporary pass and gave it back at the end of last month.
But the PM was still facing questions about why he ever agreed to the arrangement, particularly given his repeated vows to clean up politics. Conservative leadership contender Tom Tugendhat said: ‘The Prime Minister and the Chancellor spent years in opposition preaching about standards in public life. Now in Government, the moment the votes were counted, their story has changed and we’re seeing the same old Labour.’
He called on Sir Keir to reveal who approved the decision to give Lord Alli a pass, the dates he used it to enter Downing Street and what meetings he attended.
Mr Tugendhat added: ‘It is time to reset our relationship with the British people and rebuild the trust lost to this type of sleaze and dishonesty, which is rotting our politics to its core. That demands leadership, something Sir Keir seems to lack.’
It comes after a string of Labour donors and staffers were handed senior civil service jobs, with one already forced to abandon his new role as the Treasury’s director of investment in the wake of cronyism allegations.
Lord Alli has made donations to other Cabinet ministers as well as letting Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner stay in his New York apartment for a New Year holiday. Shadow paymaster general John Glen said: ‘Starmer’s sleaze is engulfing this new Government and it’s time Labour came clean on all the people they’ve parachuted into top civil service jobs and the donors they’ve returned favours to so the independence and integrity of the civil service is maintained.’
Sir Keir’s speech on the economy tomorrow looks likely to be overshadowed by the row. The PM is also under pressure to admit if any other party donors had been given the security passes usually tightly restricted to key staff, as well as family members of the PM and Chancellor.
Insiders have questioned how Lord Alli, whom No 10 says has no official role in the Government, got a pass so quickly after the change of administration, given the need for stringent checks.
A Whitehall source told The Sunday Times, which broke the story, that the decision to grant Lord Alli a pass was a mystery.
The newspaper reported that he had organised an evening reception in the No 10 garden to thank those who had worked on the election campaign.
However sources told the Mail that the event was not hosted by Lord Alli. ‘This was a party organised by the political team, with a very mixed audience of volunteers and people who contributed to the campaign,’ one said.
One attendee of the garden party, Jill Whitehouse, wrote on X: ‘I was at that garden party. It wasn’t just donors being thanked – I met constituents who’d helped, health workers. All sorts of people. Everyone’s contribution valued.’
Initially there was confusion over whether Lord Alli still had the pass, after the Sunday Times was told he did but a minister said he had given it back.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden told Times Radio: ‘He’s not doing a job in Downing Street. He’s not involved in any government or policy decisions. I don’t believe there’s anything being done here that’s in conflict with the rules.’
Despite the cash donations from Lord Alli, Keir Starmer’s election wardrobe was distinctly beige in style, if not colour, David Wilcock writes.
The Labour leader ran on a safety-first manifesto at the head of a tightly disciplined operation determined not to let this opportunity slip from its grasp.
And that extended to the leader’s sartorial choices, with some of Lord Alli’s £2,485 donation for glasses being spent on buying the leader a cheaper pair than before.
In March he swapped his £500 Lindberg 5644 glasses for £220 Garrett Leight Hampton 1001s which ’embody a sense of laid-back luxury and understated elegance’, according to the Guido Fawkes blog.
British male politicians are not known for being the most stylish or flamboyant of dressers and Sir Keir is no exception.
In May, ahead of the election, Twitter fashion guru Derek Guy, who hands out advice at @diemenswear, branded his attire ‘unremarkable’
Writing for GQ he said: ‘Aside from his penchant for inky blue dress shirts, there’s little to say about Kier Starmer’s clothes.’
However the then opposition leader did manage to ignite a little controversy in the campaign with his choice of casualwear.
In late May he was spotted wearing a £500 coat on the campaign trail on the same day he told voters he ‘knows what it feels like to struggle with bills’.
The navy coat by French firm Sandro was paired with a navy t-shirt as he spoke with voters in Brighton.