Culture Secretary Breaches Code Over Donor Links
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has issued an unreserved apology after an independent investigation found she unknowingly breached the public appointments code by failing to declare donations from the chairman of the new football watchdog.
The investigation concluded that Ms Nandy had received two donations totalling £2,900 from David Kogan, a media rights expert, during her 2020 Labour leadership campaign, but had not declared them during his appointment process.
Interview Discussions and Political Fallout
Speaking on BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Nandy revealed that while Mr Kogan's status as a Labour donor was discussed during his interview for the role of chairing the Independent Football Regulator, his specific donations to her campaign were not raised because she was unaware of them at the time.
"It was discussed at the interview, it just wasn't discussed that he donated specifically to me because I didn't know about that," she stated, adding that she immediately declared the information and recused herself from the process upon discovery.
The Conservative Party has since called for two separate investigations, asking Parliament's standards watchdog to examine what they term a "serious breach of public trust" and requesting the government's independent ethics adviser to probe whether Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also faced a conflict of interest.
Payment Structure Raises Questions
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake has questioned why the donations were structured as two payments of £1,450 each - just below the £1,500 threshold requiring declaration by MPs. One payment came from Mr Kogan personally, while the other was made by 'David Kogan Ltd'.
The Conservatives have suggested this arrangement appeared "deliberately designed to conceal the total from the public" and contrary to both the letter and spirit of the code of conduct, including the Nolan principles of public life.
In his report published on Thursday, Sir William Shawcross highlighted that when announcing Mr Kogan's preferred candidacy in April, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport should have publicly disclosed his political activity, including £33,410 in donations made by him and his company to Labour Party causes over the preceding five years.
Ms Nandy maintains she takes "full responsibility" for the department's processes and has committed to implementing measures to prevent similar occurrences in future.
