Revelations about gifts of clothes and tickets to sporting events have put MPs’ declarations in the spotlight
Keir Starmer has said he has repaid the value of some items, including clothes and tickets to a Taylor Swift concert. Photograph: Getty
Revelations that Keir Starmer and his team have accepted donations of clothes, accommodation and sports tickets have focused attention on the official register of MPs’ interests, usually published every couple of weeks.
Here are some highlights from the latest version, published on Wednesday.
Keir Starmer
Seven donations of various types (most of which have already been made public), including attending an Arsenal game in an executive box; clothes donated to his wife, Victoria, by the Labour peer Waheed Alli; and £2,800 of tickets and hospitality to a Taylor Swift concert. Starmer has said he has repaid the value of some items, including clothes and the Taylor Swift tickets.
Angela Rayner
One of the more entertaining declarations in the MPs’ register in recent times is a notional £836 for being in the DJ booth at an Ibiza nightclub. At the end of August, video footage emerged on social media of Rayner behind the decks at Hï Ibiza, a 5,000-capacity club on the Balearic island.
Rayner was a guest of the Australian DJ Fisher and sang along to a remix of Gotye’s hit Somebody That I Used to Know.
Rachel Reeves
Reeves is now registered as a landlord, a change that came about after she moved into Downing Street when she became chancellor. An update to the register said she is now receiving rental income from a London property that she co-owns with her partner. All MPs have to declare any new land or property worth more than £100,000, or rent of more than £10,000 a year.
Reeves is MP for Leeds West and Pudsey. She was born in Lewisham and owns a house in south London.
Robert Jenrick
The Conservative leadership contender declared another £135,000 in donations to his campaign, including £25,000 more from Spott Fitness, a company with no employees and which has never made a profit.
Since July, Jenrick has received just over £250,000 in donations, ahead of Tom Tugendhat on just under £225,000, Kemi Badenoch on £200,000 and James Cleverly on £180,000.
David Lammy
The foreign secretary is, like Starmer, a keen football fan – but of Tottenham rather than Arsenal. His update shows he accepted five tickets in a hospitality box at the Tottenham stadium worth £2,300 to see the north London derby against Arsenal last month. Starmer was one of Lammy’s guests and would have enjoyed the game more – Arsenal won 1-0.
Liam Conlon
The Labour MP and the son of Starmer’s chief of staff, Sue Gray, accepted two tickets worth £1,600 to see Taylor Swift at Wembley stadium.
