Durham Constabulary has launched an investigation into Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over claims he breached Covid-19 lockdown rules by drinking beer and eating a takeaway with staff during an election campaign event in April 2021. The force stated it had received “significant new information” prompting a review of its earlier decision that no offence had been committed.
The investigation centres on a gathering in Durham City on 30 April 2021, when Starmer was campaigning for the Hartlepool by-election. Video footage shows him holding a bottle of beer inside the constituency office of Mary Foy, the Labour MP for City of Durham. While campaigning was permitted at the time, the inquiry will examine whether the gathering was “reasonably necessary” for work purposes under Covid regulations.
A Labour spokesperson said the party was “happy to answer any questions” and insisted “no rules were broken”. Starmer himself expressed confidence, stating: “I was working, I stopped for something to eat. No party, no breach of the rules.” The announcement of the investigation was timed to follow the end of local election campaigning and voting.
The development is politically uncomfortable for Starmer, who had called for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign when Johnson was fined for breaking lockdown rules. Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry defended the difference, noting Johnson had misled Parliament. Conservative MP Richard Holden, who had pressed for an inquiry, said the force was doing “exactly the right thing”.
