Who is Lord Waheed Alli? How do he and Keir Starmer know each other as viral video alleges to show pair 'kissing' - how much money did he give to Labour and Starmer's son

The video has been shared on TikTok and shows CCTV footage of the pair seemingly “sharing a kiss”. The video is now doing the rounds on X, formerly Twitter. One user shared the video writing: “Footage of Keir Starmer and Lord Alli sharing a kiss has been making the rounds on social media.

“Officials haven't confirmed or denied the claims, so they remain just that—claims. However, it's clear that with Lord Ali purchasing clothes for Starmer, Starmer undergoing HIV tests, and the noticeable absence of Keir Starmer and his wife, things aren't looking good. What are your thoughts on this matter? Could it be true or is it just false rumours?”.

Users were quick to respond that the video is “fake” and looks like AI. One user said: “It is completely fake The body shape is nothing like Starmer - just desperation of someone to try and project the fantasy further”.

Another said: “I am all for bringing down the PM, but if these two were outside Lord Alli's penthouse (does not look like that to me), why would they get intimate outside, and not wait until they got inside? Looks fake to me.”

Lord Waheed Alli is Labour’s biggest donor and recently found himself at the centre of a political row over the acceptance of gifts and hospitality by senior MPs in the party. The business executive has donated some £700,000 to the party over the past two decades.

It emerged that Lord Alli had gifted Keir Starmer eyewear and work clothing worth £18,000, clothes for his wife Lady Victoria Starmer, and a £10,000 donation to the PM’s chief of staff Sue Gray’s son Liam Conlon’s campaign to become a Labour MP. Allies of Lord Alli – aged 59 and reported to have a fortune of around £200m – describe him as a lifelong Labour backer who “does not want anything” in return for his donations.

He became Sir Keir Starmer's chief campaign fundraiser in 2022 but has given him more than £39,000 in gifts since the previous general election in 2019. Starmer also revealed last year that he accepted £20,000 in donations for accommodation because his son needed somewhere to revise for his GCSEs while his family home was besieged by journalists during the election campaign.

The Prime Minister defended his decision to take gifts from Labour peer Lord Alli amid criticism of the arrangement, saying he was “not going to apologise for not doing anything wrong” and the freebies did not “cost the taxpayer a penny”. Asked about the donations, Sir Keir said that around £20,000 he had declared from Lord Alli for unspecified accommodation was for his teenager to study for exams in a “peaceful” atmosphere while the then-Labour leader was overwhelmed with media attention in the run-up to the election.

According to the register of MPs' interest, Lord Alli has given £14,000 to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson for "work events". He also let deputy leader Angela Rayner stay at his New York home for New Year's Eve and gave her £2,230 in donations for clothes.

Who is Waheed Alli?

Lord Alli was born in south London to a Trinidadian mother, who worked as a nurse, and Guyanese father, who was a mechanic. While his mother was Hindu, Lord Alli took up his father’s Muslim faith.

After leaving school aged 16 with nine O-levels, Alli took a £40-per-week role as a researcher on the specialist Planned Savings magazine, which led to him being offered an investment banking job with the firm Save & Prosper, later establishing himself as a City consultant reportedly charging £1,000 per day. Until the age of 26, he is reported to have handed 80 per cent of his take-home pay to his family.

Seeking a new challenge, he then launched the media company Planet 24 with Bob Geldof and Charlie Parsons. He and Parsons, who also became life partners, were behind a new wave of television shows, including The Big Breakfast and The Word, and in the late 90s were stalwarts on the media set, throwing parties at their Kent mansion.

With this experience and after helping with Labour’s 1997 campaign, Lord Alli was sought out by Mr Blair for advice on young people, and was nominated for his government’s 25-strong Panel 2000, dubbed “the committee for cool”, to help on presenting the UK’s “Cool Britannia” image abroad.

Lord Alli, who has said his “heart and soul” are devoted to Labour, told the Financial Times in 2011 that his politics were “the politics of sexuality, or equality,” and was reportedly introduced to the party by his neighbour, Labour MP Emily Thornberry. Upon his appointment to the House of Lords, the BBC described him as “the antithesis of the stereotypical ‘establishment‘ peer – young, Asian and from the world of media and entertainment”.

As a peer, he used his position to spearhead the battle over the repeal of Margaret Thatcher’s notorious Section 28 legislation which had banned local authorities from “promoting homosexuality”, and advocated for lowering the age of consent for gay men from 18 to 16.

Later becoming chair of online fashion giant Asos, before selling half of his stake to set up a firm which purchased the rights to Beatrix Potter’s work, Lord Alli has continued to have close involvement with the Labour Party and those involved in it, despite considering sitting as an independent during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Lord Alli donated £26,500 to leadership hopefuls Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall in 2015, and £10,000 to Owen Smith during his challenge the following year, before ultimately handing £100,000 for Sir Keir’s campaign.