Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy forced to apologise after giving £130,000 | Politics | News

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy was forced to apologize after a watchdog found she broke strict rules when she appointed a Labor donor to the £130,000 job organizing football. David Kogan will work three days a week as the new chairman of the Independent Football Regulator after being appointed by Ms Nandy.

In 2020 he made two donations totaling £2,900 to Ms Nandy, for whom he represents the Labor Party leadership. Mr Kogan donated a total of £33,410 to the Labor Party and Labor candidates in the five years before his appointment, either personally or through his company David Kogan Ltd. It was also on LabourList, a Labor Party-supporting website. Public Appointments Commissioner Sir William Shawcross concluded that Ms Nandy had broken the rules governing appointments to public affairs.

The decision does not prevent Mr Kogan from taking up the appointment, but the Conservative Party said it showed Labor was guilty of handing over important jobs to “friends” and insisted a replacement must be found immediately. But Mr Kogan made clear he had no intention of standing back, saying: “My suitability for the role was never questioned and at no point was I aware of any departure from best practice.”

The Culture Secretary has apologized in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer for “unknowingly” breaking the rules by failing to declare that he had donated to David Kogan’s leadership campaign in the 2020 race to replace Jeremy Corbyn.

In his response, the Prime Minister said he had “acted in good faith” but chastised himself, saying “the process followed was not fully up to the expected standard”.

Sir William said in a report that in addition to not disclosing Ms Nandy’s donations, a potential conflict of interest with Mr Kogan was not discussed in the meeting and his links to the Labor Party were not disclosed.

Sir William accepted she had “unknowingly” breached the rules but said he should have checked whether Mr Kogan was taking money from him when he picked him as the Government’s top candidate, given he was told he had “extensive connections” with Labor.

Nigel Huddleston, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: “The decision to appoint David Kogan, a leading Labor donor and former director of LabourList, as chairman of the Independent Football Regulator without disclosing his significant personal donations to Keir Starmer and Lisa Nandy represents a serious breach of public trust.

“This goes to the heart of Keir Starmer’s decision. Both he and Lisa Nandy have very serious questions that need to be answered about how such an appointment was allowed to go ahead.

“This appointment bears all the hallmarks of Labor cronyism. We now know that there have been three clear breaches of process, making this appointment completely untenable. If Labor is serious about integrity and transparency, this appointment must be withdrawn immediately. Anything less would be a betrayal of the standards Labor claims to support.”

Alex Burghart, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who complained to the Commissioner for Public Appointments, said: “This is a wider pattern of corruption across the Labor Government, with political cronies parachuted into Whitehall. Their promises of ethics and integrity in government have been repeatedly broken by ongoing breaches of the rules they have pledged to uphold.”

Ms Nandy told the Prime Minister: “The commissioner’s conclusion includes a finding that I unknowingly breached an aspect of the Governance of Public Appointments Act. I deeply regret this mistake. I appreciate the perception it may have created, but it was not intentional and for that I apologize.”

He said he welcomed “the clear understanding that I was unaware of the two donations” and that as soon as he learned of them, he “chose to declare them and withdraw from the appointment process.”

“Before the process begins, I would like to ensure that I have checked Electoral Commission and Parliamentary records and made proactive inquiries with former campaign staff for donations I have received since I became an MP in 2010. None of these clear steps identified the donations in question.”

In a written response to Ms Nandy’s apology, the Prime Minister said: “I note the commissioner’s findings that the error was made unknowingly and accept your assurance that there was no deliberate or deliberate action on your part to undermine the expectations set out in the Public Appointments Administration Act.

“I know that you are an honest person, and from your letter it is clear that you acted in good faith.”

He added: “Nevertheless, the process followed was not entirely to the standard expected and I welcome your department’s willingness to engage with the commissioner and the Cabinet Office to learn lessons and improve guidance on dealing with conflicts of interest.

“I also accept that the report does not cast any doubt on Mr Kogan’s suitability for the role of Chairman of the Independent Football Regulator.”

IFR President David Kogan said: “I have co-operated fully throughout the investigation and can now draw a line under the process.

“As the commissioner stated, my suitability for this role was never questioned and at no point did I become aware of any deviation from best practice.

“It is now time to get on with the work of establishing the IFR to tackle the critical and urgent issues facing football.”

It comes a week after the Prime Minister cleared Rachel Reeves of failing to obtain a letting license for her family home in south London.

This also came after several prominent figures left the government as a result of scandals.

Among them was former deputy prime minister and housing minister Angela Rayner, who resigned following a row over her tax affairs.

Lord Mandelson was also sacked as ambassador to Washington after details of his relationship with deceased pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein emerged.