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The Tories have demanded that Sir Keir Starmer be investigated over a potential conflict of interest after the Government handed a key position to a man who donated to his leadership campaign. Earlier this year, the Government chose David Kogan as an independent football regulator, after he had given money to Sir Keir’s leadership campaign in 2020. Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, has written to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s adviser on ministerial interests, to ask him to consider whether this counts as a breach of the ministerial code. Mr Kogan also donated more than £2,000 to Lisa Nandy’s campaign for Labour leader following the departure of Jeremy Corbyn. On Thursday, Sir William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, found Ms Nandy, the Culture Secretary, had breached the “integrity” part of the governance code on public appointments. Mr Burghart said Sir Keir’s donation should also be investigated as he did not recuse himself from the process to choose a new football regulator. Mr Burghart said: “This week, Keir Starmer let Lisa Nandy off the hook for her failure to declare a clear conflict of interest when she appointed David Kogan – one of her donors – as head of the new football regulator. “Starmer has the exact same conflict, having also secretly taken Kogan’s cash. Yet whereas Nandy eventually recused herself from matters relating to the regulator’s leadership, Starmer has not done so. In fact, it seems he may even have driven the appointment. “The whole thing stinks, and Labour are scrambling to cover it up now we have shone light on it. The appointment of David Kogan must be immediately withdrawn, and the independent adviser must investigate Starmer and, if he has breached the ministerial code, take appropriate action.” Mr Kogan also donated to Sir Keir’s constituency campaign in the 2024 election. Despite this, the Prime Minister did not recuse himself from the appointments process. He also did not recuse himself from judgment on Ms Nandy’s failure to declare her conflict of interest. The Tories pointed out that Sir Keir accepts extensive hospitality from the football industry. The ministerial code has clear requirements on declaring conflicts of interest. Ms Nandy insists she did not know about the donation. On Thursday night, Ms Nandy apologised to the Prime Minister and said she had not known Mr Kogan had been a donor when she appointed him. The embarrassing finding comes just a week after Rachel Reeves had to apologise for breaking housing rules by not buying a special licence before renting out her family home. Two months ago, Angela Rayner had to resign as deputy prime minister after The Telegraph revealed she had not paid the right amount of stamp duty. Media executive Mr Kogan was nominated by Ms Nandy as chair of the independent football regulator earlier this year. He later revealed he had given money to Ms Nandy during her bid to succeed Jeremy Corbyn in 2020. Following the revelation, the Culture Secretary stood aside from giving final approval to the appointment. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Ms Nandy said: “The commissioner’s conclusions include a finding that I unknowingly breached an aspect of the governance code on public appointments. I deeply regret this error. I appreciate the perception it could create, but it was not deliberate and I apologise for it. “I welcome the clear recognition that I did not know about two donations I received as a leadership candidate in 2020, when I was a backbench opposition MP, and that as soon as I discovered these donations existed, I chose to declare them and recuse myself from the process. “I want to assure you that I took robust steps before the process began to check the Electoral Commission and parliamentary register for any donations I had received since I became a member of Parliament in 2010, and made proactive enquiries with former campaign staff. None of these clear steps identified the donations in question.” The Prime Minister, who is in Brazil at an environment summit, said: “I note the commissioner’s findings that the error was unknowing and I accept your assurance there was no intentional or deliberate action on your part to undermine the expectations set out in the governance code on public appointments. “I know you to be a person of integrity and on the basis of your letter, it is clear you have acted in good faith. The commissioner acknowledges that you acted swiftly to step back from the appointment when you became aware of the perception of a conflict of interest. “Nonetheless, the process followed was not entirely up to the standard expected.” He said he welcomed her department’s willingness to “learn lessons and to improve the guidance on handling conflicts of interests”. “I also recognise that the report in no way casts any doubt on the suitability of Mr Kogan for the important role of chair of the Independent Football Regulator. “It is important now that the Government gets on with delivering our manifesto commitment to make Britain the best place in the world to be a football fan.” Sir William found that Ms Nandy breached the governance code three times, including once on “integrity”. ‘Erosion of public confidence’ Mr Kogan made two donations totalling £2,900 to her leadership campaign in 2020, but Ms Nandy did not check whether he was a donor when she recommended his appointment. “The nature and size of these donations, to a personal leadership campaign, were such that they might reasonably be perceived to have influenced the secretary of state’s decision-making,” said Sir William’s report. “The erosion of public confidence in a public office holder can be caused by the perception of a conflict of interest, as well as by an actual conflict. “Prior to making the decision to select Mr Kogan as the government’s preferred candidate, the secretary of state, as the appointing authority, ought to have considered and ascertained whether he had made donations to her such as those at issue. “Accordingly, the secretary of state breached an aspect of the third principle of public appointments – integrity – albeit that the breach was not a knowing breach.” Sir William said that the second breach was that the potential conflict of interest was not discussed with Mr Kogan at the interview. Finally, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport failed to disclose Mr Kogan’s political activity in the appropriate manner, notably his links to the Labour Party. A Government spokesman said: “The chair of the football regulator was appointed by ministers in the Department for Culture, Media, and Sports, as set out in the legislation. This was the case under the previous government. “The Independent Commissioner for Public Appointments reviewed the appointment process extensively and found no breaches aside from those set out in the report.”
