Andy Burnham has been at pains to prove that he is different. A different Prime Minister who will do things differently from those who have gone before him. Not only that, his carefully curated image as a man of the people is designed to help him relate to parts of the electorate that others cannot. And his big push this summer has been to ease the cost of living as millions of families grapple with soaring bills.
So it's not a good look to find out that Mr Burnham accepted £345,000 of donations and freebies in the past 12 months.
Donations and Freebies Detailed
In his former role as Manchester mayor, he accepted two tickets worth £3,800 to attend the Brit Awards from Sony Music, two tickets worth £500 to Aintree racecourse and four tickets to last year's Glastonbury festival.
The donations, listed in the most recent version of the MPs' register of interests, are the first declared by the PM since he was elected as Makerfield MP in June.
He has done nothing wrong. But it does have a distinct whiff of privilege about it.
Previous Freebie Scandals
Let's not forget that Keir Starmer and several members of his cabinet, including Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper, were engulfed by a "freebie" scandal over Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter tickets and clothing within weeks of entering government in 2024.
It brought a sharp end to his honeymoon period as prime minister. The same could happen to Burnham.
Financial Support and Donations
New MPs are required to register all their current financial interests and any registrable benefits they received in the year before their election.
Lord Sainsbury gave £164,347 of support, including in the form of "office space" and the cost of contractors working on "policy and operations" for Mr Burnham from June, the filings show.
The PM received £2,000 from Lord Blunkett for his Makerfield by-election campaign and £25,000 from businessman Gary Lubner towards his Labour leadership bid. Mr Burnham also received £50,000 from a company run by TV producer Charlie Parsons.
ThinkLabour, the think-tank formerly known as Labour Together, gave more than £22,000 in staffing and IT equipment for his office in June, while Ernst & Young provided a secondment to his team worth £16,500 in July. Mr Burnham received four £5,000 donations from the Fire Brigades Union, its North-west regional office, the Communication Workers Union, and Unison, for "mayoral" campaigning.
