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Keir Starmer has declared more than £100,000 worth of freebies in the past five years, marking him out as the biggest recipient of gifts and free hospitality in Parliament.
According to the Westminster Accounts, Tortoise’s fully searchable database tracking the money flowing into British politics, Starmer accepted more than £82,000 over the previous parliament.
This week’s update reveals a further £25,000 from the election period and shortly afterwards.
Labour peer and fundraiser Lord Waheed Alli accounts for nearly a third of all the prime minister’s freebies, having contributed £18,685 of clothes and pairs of glasses when the party was in opposition, as well as more than £20,000 on accommodation during the election.
Alli has also contributed a similar sum on “private office” costs.
Alli’s role within the inner circles of the party has come under intense scrutiny since Labour entered government, after The Sunday Times reported that he had a pass to Downing Street despite not holding any official role.
Bloomberg subsequently revealed that Alli, a well-liked TV executive, had advised on public appointments while acting as fundraiser. It has also been widely reported that he covered the costs of Starmer’s wife’s designer clothes.
In both the 2019 parliament and the current term, Starmer has declared the most freebies from the Football Association Premier League out of any MP, more than £12,000 in total. He has previously justified this by saying he accepts free box seats because of his security requirements.
He argued: “If I don’t accept a gift of hospitality, I can’t go to a game. You could say: ‘Well, bad luck.’ That’s why gifts have to be registered. But, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.”
But while Starmer tops the list for accrued freebies, he’s not the biggest recipient since the 2024 election.
That honour goes to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has declared £35,000 worth of gifts and hospitality since July, of which the vast majority (£32,000) came from one-time Boris Johnson-backer Christopher Harborne. The Thailand-based businessman broke records in the previous parliament for having given the outgoing prime minister a single £1m donation.
Farage has also declared £2,000 for two ringside seats to see heavyweight boxers Joe Joyce and Derek Chisora at The O2.