UK PM Starmer Triggers Debate After Failing To Declare Clothes Donor Lord Alli Bought For His Wife

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer may have broken parliamentary rules as he failed to declare the clothes Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli bought for his wife Victoria Starmer, the UK First Lady.

In the UK, MPs must declare gifts and donations within 28 days of receiving them and Starmer approached parliamentary authorities earlier this week to make a late declaration after receiving advice on what all he needed to declare or disclose, according to UK broadcaster BBC.

A separate report by the Sunday Times said the donations also included expenses for a personal shopper and alterations for Victoria, both before and after the general election.

Starmer had earlier declared that Lord Alli had provided him with accommodation for several weeks amounting to more than £20,000.

Lord Alli has been part of debate earlier this August when it was found that he was given a temporary Downing Street security pass despite having no formal government role.

The Conservative Party has demanded a “full investigation” into the “serious breaches of parliamentary rules” allegedly committed by the prime minister.

“The prime minister did declare funds that he received from Lord Alli. He’s then gone back to the parliamentary commissioner to further check details on some of those funds that have made their way to his wife,” foreign secretary David Lammy told BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday.

Lammy said the matter was “not an issue of transparency”

“The truth is that successive prime ministers, unless you’re a billionaire like the last one, do rely on political donations so they can look their best both in the hope of representing the country, if you’re in the opposition, or as prime minister,” Lammy further added.

He noted that, unlike in the United States, UK prime ministers and their partners don’t have a large taxpayer-funded budget, hence depend on donations “so they look their best”.

A No 10 spokesperson said the UK PM believes he has complied with the rules but later declared further items.

“We sought advice from the authorities on coming to office. We believed we had been compliant, however, following further interrogation this month, we have declared further items,” the spokesperson said.

The broadcaster in its report said that Lord Alli previously bought clothes and glasses for Keir Starmer but they have been accounted for on the register of MPs’ interests.