Sir Keir Starmer was found to have breached the MPs’ code of conduct eight times.
An investigation into the Labor leader was opened in June by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone, in relation to complaints about late declarations of earnings and gifts, benefits or hospitality from UK sources.
These include a manager’s box for two at Crystal Palace worth £720, four tickets to Watford vs Arsenal and tickets for his staff for the British Kebab award.
Speaking at the time, Mr. Keir said he was “absolutely confident” that he had not breached the MPs’ code of conduct.
But the commissioner has now found that the Leader of the Opposition has failed to register eight benefits – five more than those alleged in the original complaint.
However, she noted that “the violations were minor and/or unintentional, and there was no deliberate attempt to mislead”.
As a result, the supervisory body decided the investigation could be terminated with a “correction” procedure without referral to the Standards Committee, which would be the case in more serious cases.
The rectification procedure entails publishing the details and apology on the Commons website.
‘It won’t happen again’
A Labor Party spokesman said: “Keir Starmer takes his responsibility to the Registry very seriously and has apologized to the Commissioner for the unintentional error.
“He has assured the Commissioner that his office processes have been reviewed to ensure this does not happen again.”
In the original complaint filed with the commissioner, it is alleged that between 6 March 2022 and 13 May 2022, Sir Keir failed to register the income and hospitality he accepted three times. received, within a period of 28 days to be determined by the House of Commons. .
The watchdog has conducted a review of Sir Keir’s registration over the past 12 months and recorded four more late entries.
Starmer: ‘I’m sorry’
Read more:
Keir Starmer says he ‘hates’ being investigated by police for mergers
Starmer didn’t break lockdown rules, police say
During the investigation, Sir Keir also informed Ms Stone that he was selling a plot of land for an amount in excess of the £100,000 threshold for registration set by the House of Commons.
The commissioner wrote in her report: “Mr Keir said he has consulted the Register of Financial Interests of Members on this matter, and, has assessed the land in January of this year. 2022 and put the land on the market in March 2022. is waiting to be sold so he can register the right value.
“I decided to include this matter in my investigation.”
‘Admin error’
Ms. Stone found Sir Keir had failed to register eight interests, including the parcel of land, and had “violated paragraph 14 of the House Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament”.
However, she continued: “I found that, based on the information available to me, the violations were minor and/or unintentional, and there was no deliberate attempt to mislead.”
In a letter to the commissioner dated June 21, Sir Keir reiterated that the late declaration was “the result of an administrative error in my office”, adding: “I am solely responsible for the my registry and I’m sorry.”
“My office and I have conducted a process review to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he noted.
Book deals
Sir Keir received an advance of £18,450 from publisher HarperCollins in April for a book he is writing in which he is expected to lay out his vision for England.
The amount, which he has pledged to donate to charities, was announced a day late, while royalties for two legal books published before the lawyer became an MP were also delayed. they eat.
Sir Keir also received a director’s box for two at Crystal Palace worth £720, when they beat his club Arsenal 3-0 on 4 April. It was not registered for until May 5.
He received four tickets for Watford vs Arsenal, worth a total of £1,416, for their March 6 match. The gift was registered on May 6.
Just Eat also offers staff tickets to the Taste of London festival and the British Kebab Awards.
Donations from the company exceeded the £300 limit for registration on October 29 but were not announced until December 23.
