Lord Alli laid on hospitality for Labour 23 times in run-up to election
Lord Alli laid on hospitality for Labour more than 20 times in the year running up to the general election, The Telegraph can reveal.The peer at the centre of the row over donations provided the party with hospitality on 23 occasions at the same time the party was carrying out a charm offensive with businesses.Data from the Electoral Commission shows that Lord Alli provided non-cash hospitality donations worth £55,000 between June 2023 and May this year.While Lord Alli is a long-standing Labour backer, having given the party £700,000, he only started providing hospitality donations last year, according to records which go back to 2001.Labour refused to answer questions about what hospitality was provided but a series of donations in September 2023 coincided with the timing of pre-election strategy meetings at Lord Alli’s townhouse in Soho.In a recent book, Taken as Red, Anushka Asthana, ITV’s deputy political editor, described how key Labour aides and shadow ministers including Pat McFadden, now Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Morgan McSweeney, Labour’s campaign director, were meeting at the Georgian property.“McFadden and McSweeney gathered close colleagues at the central London office of party donor and Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli, a traditional Soho townhouse decorated with antique furniture”, the book says.Key figures “covering strategy, operations, communications and policy” were present, where Mr McFadden would stand with a flip chart and a black marker pen as they discussed plans for the election.They worked from the property for several days, according to the book, before taking a strategy pitch to Sir Keir and Sue Gray.Lord Alli also loaned Sir Keir the use of an £18 million penthouse in Covent Garden, where he watched election night.The peer is under investigation from the House of Lords’ standards commissioner over potential breach of the code of conduct for alleged “non registration of interests”.It is understood the investigation is not linked to donation or any of the recent headlines about Lord Alli.There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing and all donations have been declared within the rules and all relevant declarations have been made to the Electoral Commission.Sir Keir is battling to contain a row over “freebies” which began after he was accused of cronyism for giving Lord Alli a temporary pass to No 10, which was later given back, despite the peer having no official central government role.Lord Alli gave the Prime Minister £32,000 to pay for clothing, as well as thousands of pounds for designer clothing for his wife Victoria, and work clothing to Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister.Sir Keir initially failed to declare around £5,000 in designer clothing given to Lady Starmer by the peer, although he will not face a parliamentary standards investigation.Earlier this week Sir Keir said he would pay back £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality since taking office including free tickets to Taylor Swift and a loan of clothing to his wife.Labour declined to comment and Lord Alli’s office was contacted for comment.Sign up to the Front Page newsletter for free: Your essential guide to the day's agenda from The Telegraph - direct to your inbox seven days a week.
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