Culture Secretary Breaches Code Over Donor Links
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has issued an unreserved apology after an independent investigation found she unknowingly breached the code on public appointments by failing to declare donations from the new football watchdog chairman.
The probe revealed Ms Nandy had received two donations totalling £2,900 from David Kogan, a media rights expert, back in 2020 during her Labour leadership campaign. However, she claimed this information wasn't raised during his interview process for the role of chairing the Independent Football Regulator.
Opposition Demands Ethics Investigation
The Conservative Party has demanded an ethics probe into the appointment, questioning whether Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also faced a conflict of interest. They pointed out that Mr Kogan had also made donations to Sir Keir during the 2020 Labour leadership race and gave £2,500 to the Prime Minister's constituency party before last year's general election.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart wrote to ethics watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus, questioning whether the Prime Minister had "exactly the same conflict of interest, if not a greater one" given the more recent political donation.
Nandy's Defence and Apology
Speaking to BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Nandy explained: "It was discussed at the interview, it just wasn't discussed that he donated specifically to me because I didn't know about that."
She emphasised that as soon as she discovered the information, she immediately made it public and recused herself from the appointment process. The Culture Secretary also noted that Mr Kogan had been approached by the previous Conservative government who began the appointment process.
In his report published on Thursday, commissioner Sir William Shawcross found that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport should have publicly disclosed Mr Kogan's political activity when announcing his preferred candidacy in April. This included £33,410 donated by him and his company to the Labour Party and Labour candidates over the previous five years.
Despite the controversy, Sir Keir Starmer stood by his Culture Secretary, stating that while "the process followed was not entirely up to the standard expected", Ms Nandy had "acted in good faith" throughout.
