Keir Starmer has said he made a mistake in rubber-stamping the appointment of the first head of the new football regulator, given his own connections to football and the fact the successful candidate had donated money to him in the past.
In a letter to Laurie Magnus, his independent adviser on ministerial standards, the prime minister expressed "sincere regret" over the appointment of David Kogan. The letter followed an apology to Mr Starmer by Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, who had also received a donation from Mr Kogan.
Mr Starmer said the decision to appoint Mr Kogan – a media executive whose career has included negotiating TV rights deals for the Premier League and the English Football League – as chair of the independent football regulator was, under law, a decision for Ms Nandy. He noted that, given his interest in football, he had agreed with Mr Magnus in autumn last year to recuse himself from decisions relating to the new regulator.
Writing in the letter, published by Downing Street on Wednesday, Mr Starmer said: "In April 2025 a note was submitted to me informing me that, after running the appointment process, the culture secretary wanted to appoint David Kogan as the inaugural chair of the Independent Football Regulator, subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by the select committee. The note asked me whether I was content. I confirmed that I was supportive. I knew that the decision was for the secretary of state to take and I replied on the basis that the decision had been taken. In retrospect, it would have been better if I had not been given the note or confirmed that I was content with the appointment. This was an unfortunate error for which I express my sincere regret."
In response, Mr Magnus said it was "regrettable" that Mr Starmer had been asked to rubber-stamp the appointment, but welcomed a review into why this had happened. He added that the disclosures were "an important demonstration of your commitment to transparency and to ensuring that mistakes are acknowledged".
Ms Nandy's apology came after a report by William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, found she failed to say that Mr Kogan had donated to her Labour leadership campaign and to the party before she nominated him. Mr Kogan was confirmed last month as head of the Independent Football Regulator, a body proposed by the Conservative government after plans for the European Super League collapsed.
