Lisa Nandy could face a new probe into her failure to declare donations from the football regulator after she was found to have breached appointment rules.
Labour was thrust into another cronyism row after the Culture Secretary appointed a party donor to the role without declaring his support for her.
She was forced to apologise to the Prime Minister for failing to declare £2,900 from David Kogan after claiming she wasn’t aware of the funding. Keir Starmer accepted her apology, adding: ‘I know you to be a person of integrity.’
But last night the Tories requested a fresh probe. In a letter seen by the Daily Mail, party chairman Kevin Hollinrake wrote to Daniel Greenberg, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, accusing her of breaching the rules.
He pointed out she registered a donation from Mr Kogan for £1,450 and one from David Kogan Ltd for £1,450 in 2020.
Both were below £1,500, the figure above which donations must be declared – but only if they come from separate sources.
Mr Hollinrake said these were ‘clearly’ the same source, noting it would constitute a breach of the code if there was an attempt to ‘conceal’ the gift by giving multiple payments below the threshold.
He said the ‘insignificant difference of £50 in each donation would appear to be an attempt to ensure each was beneath the threshold and the use of two names for the ultimate source would appear to demonstrate there was intent to conceal the donations’.
Lisa Nandy (pictured) was forced to apologise to the Prime Minister for failing to declare £2,900 from David Kogan after claiming she wasn’t aware of the funding
He also noted the information came to light only after the commissioner for public appointments investigated after a Tory complaint.
In a separate letter, the Tories wrote to the independent adviser on ministerial standards to ask why the PM had not recused himself from the appointment process.
Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart pointed out Sir Keir had received two donations from Mr Kogan.
Regarding the letter about Sir Keir, No10 said the commissioner ‘reviewed the appointment process extensively and found no breaches aside from those set out in the report’.
The commissioner and a spokesman for Ms Nandy were contacted for comment.
