The Starmers say they moved into Lord Alli’s £18 million penthouse in Soho on 29th May and ceased to use it on 13th July this year. They valued this period of use at a bargain £20,437.28. Starmer said this week:
“I promised him we would move somewhere, get out of the house and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying”… “if you are putting to me Beth that I should have stayed in my Kentish Town home and disrupted my son’s GCSEs… then I think you should put that to me.”
This suggests Starmer was actively living in the penthouse for the entirety of the period – using it as his primary residence. This would have started just before nominations opened for the General Election on June 4th….
When in 2017 UKIP’s Paul Nuttall claimed on his nomination papers he lived at a house he hadn’t yet moved into, it was made clear that the address had to be the place where he was actually resident at the moment of nomination. Peter Stanyon, deputy chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, said: “The general provision will clearly be that it needs to be a factual statement made at the point the nomination was being submitted.” Starmer’s nomination paper claims he was living at an address in Holborn and St. Pancras on that day. But we now know he was at Alli’s penthouse is in the Cities of London and Westminster…
Nuttall was investigated by police. He managed to prove to them that he used his house regularly as a “base” in the campaign for the 2017 Stoke By-Election. Starmer has accidentally admitted that he lived in a different property to the one on his declaration – did he campaign from his Kentish Town house? Downing Street will have to say so…
In addition, Starmer’s stated explanation for his use of the donated penthouse is that he needed the accommodation for his son’s exams. In itself this would mean it is not subject to Labour’s national general election campaign expense. But it would be if he held any campaign meetings there, used the property for campaign purposes or did campaign work there…
It could also shift into the local expense in his capacity as an MP. There is no declaration of the donation during a regulated election period on Starmer’s Electoral Commission entries. Starmer’s period of residence at Lord Alli’s therefore may have breached electoral law. Twice…
UK political parties have been filling up the coffers in the run up to the election, totalling a whopping £22,660,735 in donations and public funds in 2023 Q4, according to the Electoral Commission. The figures reflect what the parties are saying about when polling day will be…
The Tories swept up £9,785,903, a big drop from Q3, where they raked in £15,758,593, fuelling further confirmation that the election will be after Spring, especially after that damp squib of a budget. That or the Tories are finding it more difficult to cling on to donors…
Meanwhile, Labour collected £8,541,036 in funds, up by a third from last quarter, which include £6,457,256 from donors and £2,083,780 of public funds. While Labour are gearing up for an election, the Tories still seem reluctant to call one anytime soon…
UK political parties have been filling up the coffers, totalling £25,411,733 in donations in 2023 Q3, according to the Electoral Commission. More than double last Q3, which was £11,700,902. The Tories raked in £15,758,593, fuelling further rumours of an early election. Meanwhile the Labour party only gathered a third of that, accepting £5,542,752 in donations, £2,464,242 of which were public funds. Ramping up for the election…
According to a co-conspirator at the Electoral Commission, Shaun McNally the CEO is stepping down after just over a year in post. Staff have been told it is for “personal and professional reasons”.
Presumably the professional reason is that a massive data hack resulted in email records, control systems, and copies of the electoral registers being stolen during his watch. Good to see a head roll for a monumental failure…
The Labour Party received more funding than the Conservatives in Q2 of 2023 – even with CCHQ bringing in £5,000,000 from Frank Hester. Labour raked in £10,510,260, 4% more than the Conservatives on £10,510,260. However, it isn’t all bad for CCHQ, excluding public funds (which disproportionately benefit the opposition), the Tories retain their top spot by some £2,000,000. Labour’s biggest donors were Lord Sainsbury (£3,000,000) and Gary Lubner (£2,200,000) whilst the Tories also got a million pound boost from hedge fund boss Alan Howard. No sign of Dale Vince, this quarter.
The overall total of political donations this quarter was £24,438,482. Almost double the figure from the same period last year. We’re entering an election year…
The Electoral Commission has published the latest accounts for the UK’s main political parties in the year ending December 2022. Labour were far out ahead, raking in £47,171,000 compared to the Tories’ £30,682,000. The Tories made a near £2.3 million loss, spending £33,062,000. Admittedly Rishi never pledged to cut the deficit within the party…
Labour’s books are looking much healthier than the previous year – Sir Keir’s prawn cocktail offensive with big business must be paying off. In 2021 they made a £5 million loss, in large part thanks to plummeting membership numbers. For 2022 their outgoings were a whopping £44,450,000, though that still puts them roughly £2.7 million in the green for the year. The LibDems and the SNP also made losses, with the LibDems losing £753,788, and the Nationalists losing roughly £800,000. That’s a lot of motorhomes.
