Sir Keir Starmer: Labour leader found to have breached MPs’ code of conduct on eight occasions

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been found to have breached the MPs’ code of conduct.

The opposition leader has failed to register on time eight interests, after an inquiry was launched by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone.

It was launched after claims were made about late declaration of gifts and earnings, with Mr Starmer at the time saying that he was “absolutely confident” he had not broken the code of conduct.

What did the parliamentary commisioner find?

MPs currently need to register income and hospitality accepted within a 28-day period of recieving it.

The original complaint against Mr Starmer alleged that he had failed on three occasions to register additional income and gifts recieved between 6 March and 13 May 2022.

This inlcuded a £18,450 advance from publisher HarperCollins for a book he is currently writing, and tickets for a director’s box seat for two people at Crystal Palace, the later of which was declared a day late.

Other incidents include the Labour leader recieving four tickets for Watford v Arsenal on 6 March, which was eventually registered on 6 May.

Once the investigation was launched, the Labour leader told Ms Stone that he was in the process of selling a plot of land that exceeded the £100,000 threshold.

In her report, Ms Stone said: “Sir Keir said he had been communicating with the Registrar of Members’ Financial Interests on this matter, and, having had the land valued in January 2022, and put the land on the market in March 2022, he was waiting for the sale to complete so that he could register the correct value.

“I decided to include this matter as part of my inquiry.”

The investigation included the last 12 months, not only the three months included in the original complaint, and found four further late entries.

While Sir Keir Starmer had been found to breach the code of conduct, Ms Stone’s conclusions found that “the breaches were minor and/or inadvertent, and that there was no deliberate attempt to mislead”.

What did Keir Starmer say?

In a letter to Ms Stone on 21 June, Sir Keir said: “I take full responsibility for my register, and I apologise.”

“My office and I have carried out a review of the process to ensure that this does not happen again.”

What has Labour said?

It has now been found that Mr Starmer failed to reigster interests including gifts from football teams and the sale of a plot of land.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Keir Starmer takes his responsibilities to the Register very seriously and has apologised to the Commissioner for this inadvertent error.

“He has assured the Commissioner that his office processes have been reviewed to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”