Keir Starmer has recently offered more free tickets and gifts than any other major party leader, with his total now standing at over £100,000 after Labour donor Waheed Alli recently backed his lifestyle.
The Prime Minister has accepted almost 40 free tickets during his time as Labour leader, mainly to football matches, but also £4,000 worth of hospitality at a Taylor Swift concert and £698 worth of Coldplay tickets in Manchester.
This week he was criticised for the size of the gifts he received from Lord Alli, who paid for £12,000 worth of work clothes, accommodation worth more than £20,000 and a pair of glasses worth £2,485 – especially as the donor was given a temporary pass to Number 10 after the election.
Angela Eagle, a government minister, struggled to defend the prime minister’s decision to accept so many freebies when pressed on Times Radio on Tuesday. Asked why he shouldn’t buy his own glasses given his salary, Eagle said: “I’m afraid I’m not responsible for the decisions the prime minister makes.”
She added: “The Prime Minister has had his say on that… next time you interview him, you can ask him yourself. I have no opinion.”
Starmer’s acceptance of freebies raised eyebrows after the FT reported he had accepted £76,000 in hospitality and gifts during the election. He has since declared a further £4,000 worth of Taylor Swift tickets and £20,000 worth of accommodation from Alli.
This happened mainly during the election campaign, but also a week after he became prime minister, until July 13.
The Labour Party would not comment on whether Alli had financed Starmer’s hotel room during the election or lent one of his own properties as a base.
Starmer has previously stressed that his acceptance of hospitality is linked to his security requirements not to be allowed in the stands, saying: “If I don’t accept a gift of hospitality, I can’t go to a match. You could say, ‘Well, tough luck.’ That’s why gifts have to be recorded. But, you know, never going to an Arsenal match again because I can’t accept hospitality is going a bit far.”
Other former leaders of major parties have not announced as many free tickets and hospitality.
During his time as leader of the opposition party, David Cameron declared a set of tickets to the Rugby World Cup, and was hosted at the Conservative Party’s Black and White Ball, along with various gifts of hampers and other goodies. He also logged £4,475 in discounted personal training sessions.
Its value is difficult to quantify, as the rules on tax returns were only tightened after 2010. However, the number of freebies he registers is far lower than the number Starmer accepts.
During his time as Labour leader from 2010 to 2015, Ed Miliband declared BA upgrades on a flight to South Africa worth up to £5,866 and Paralympic tickets of an undisclosed value. After quitting his job as opposition leader, he declared tickets to watch the Boston Red Sox baseball team worth £2,607 in 2019 and £480 to attend the Lunar Festival.
Jeremy Corbyn revealed he took Glastonbury tickets worth around £450 for a family member two years in a row, but accepted no other hospitality as Labour leader from 2015 to 2020 – apart from a first edition book donated to a museum. Since leaving the job, he has declared around £600,000 in donations to his legal battle fund.
Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have less directly comparable statements to Starmer, as they all became prime minister once they became party leaders. Ministers are not forced to list hospitality on their MP register that they receive in their official role.
However, when Johnson was prime minister he announced a £15,000 holiday from donor David Ross and a £12,000 party paid for by Brown’s Hotel when he was party leader.
Johnson avoided mentioning the value of a free holiday given to former MP Zac Goldsmith, arguing it was given in a personal capacity.
After leaving office, Johnson eventually claimed more than £100,000 in free accommodation, mainly from Anthony and Carole Bamford. He also accepted a £4,000 second-hand bicycle from Nechirvan Idris Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
In the months after he stepped down as Foreign Secretary in 2018, he took home two tickets to a Test match at the Oval, worth £1,800.
Sunak has offered no personal hospitality, apart from an honorary membership of the Carlton Club worth £2,595. Truss has not offered any hospitality as party leader, but before that she had advertised only four events in her previous 10 years in parliament: a £2,000 attendance at a Norwich City football match, £340 tickets to Wimbledon, £400 tickets to the opera Porgy and Bess and £1,104 worth of race tickets at Newmarket.
Theresa May was a shadow cabinet minister in the opposition and accepted the boots of Russell and Bromley, and was also twice a guest at the Brit Awards and the Henley Festival.
However, in the month she resigned from office and was replaced by Johnson, she accepted two complimentary tickets from the England and Wales Cricket Board Limited to watch a match at Lords.
A selection of free stuff
Keir Starmer
He took £20,000 worth of unspecified accommodation from Ali, as well as £16,000 worth of clothes and more than £2,400 worth of glasses ahead of the 2024 election.
Four tickets to a Taylor Swift concert cost £4,000, offered by the Premier League.
In August 2023, he went on a free four-day holiday to a beautiful location in Wales, worth £4,500. The holiday was offered to him by the company Crownhawk Properties.
The most expensive football match was a four-match ticket for Arsenal v Watford, worth £2,160, offered by the Premier League in November 2021.
David Cameron
The former Prime Minister received a £4,475 discount from a personal trainer as he prepared for the 2010 election.
Conservative donor Michael Farmer paid for Cameron’s tickets to the party’s summer party in 2009 at £1,600, while another Black and White ball party was skipped by Prince Rupert Loewenstein.
He attended the Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France in Paris as a guest of the Rugby Football Union. Lord Ashcroft provided his transport, but the cost was not disclosed.
Boris Johnson
The former prime minister has accepted several major holidays, including an announced £15,000 holiday from donor David Ross.
He also accepted a free holiday from former MP Zac Goldsmith, but the costs were never claimed as he received them in a personal capacity.