The Conservative Party has called for an investigation into Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, over allegations that he attempted to mislead the Electoral Commission regarding donations to a Labour thinktank he previously ran.
Labour Together, the organisation in question, was fined £14,250 in 2021 for failing to properly declare nearly £740,000 in donations. The Tories claim McSweeney used a 'false excuse' of administrative errors to justify the omissions.
Leaked emails from Labour lawyer Gerald Shamash show he advised McSweeney to abandon claims that he was told he did not need to declare the donations, and to instead attribute the failures to administrative error to minimise publicity. Shamash wrote that there was 'no easy way to explain how Labour Together finds itself in this situation'.
The donations were only discovered and declared after McSweeney left the thinktank in April 2020. His successor, Hannah O'Rourke, found nearly three years of unreported donations and filed late declarations.
Downing Street has refused to comment on McSweeney's time at Labour Together, but Starmer's spokesperson confirmed the prime minister retains 'full confidence' in his chief of staff. The Electoral Commission stated that its 2021 investigation found the failures occurred 'without reasonable excuse' and that sanctions were applied.
