Starmer will not be investigated over undeclared £5,000 donation for wife’s dresses

Downing Street has said that Parliament’s standards watchdog will not investigate whether Sir Keir Starmer broke rules by not declaring clothes gifted to his wife by Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli

Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, at Betfred St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse (Mike Egerton/PA Wire)

The prime minister will avoid an embarrassing investigation into a failure to declare a donation by a Labour peer that paid for dresses for his wife Victoria.

Sir Keir Starmer was facing questions from the Opposition over the £5,000 donation from Lord Waheed Alli, which he initially failed to put on his register of interests. The peer, a leading Labour donor, received a high-level security pass for Downing Street in the weeks after the election and made a donation to Sir Keir of accommodation over several weeks worth more than £20,000.

The prime minister has insisted his team had sought advice on what declaration should be made and that rules were being followed.

Tory chairman Andrew Griffith asked the parliamentary standards commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, to investigate a potential breach of the rules.

Mr Griffith wrote: “There must be a full investigation into this scandal given this is not the first instance of the prime minister failing to declare donations and abiding by parliamentary rules.

“It beggars belief that the prime minister thinks it’s acceptable that pensioners on £13,000 a year can afford to heat their home when he earns 12 times that but apparently can’t afford to clothe himself or his wife.

Sir Keir faced questions over his alleged failure to register on time high-end clothing given to Lady Starmer by a prominent party donor (Gareth Fuller/PA)

“While his top team want a taxpayer-funded clothes budget to look sharp, people across the country are forced to make tough choices in the face of Labour’s damaging decisions,” he continued.

“Labour promised change, but in 10 short weeks all they’ve delivered is a change of clothes for themselves. Labour have made the political choice to put themselves and their union paymasters before the most vulnerable.”

But Downing Street has said that after discussions the commissioner has decided not to investigate.

This is not the first time Sir Keir has been late in his declarations and broken the rules. In 2022 the then-commissioner Kathryn Stone decided not to refer him to the committee when, as Labour leader, he admitted to eight late declarations, including the sale of a plot of land that exceeded the £100,000 threshold for registration.

She ruled that “the breaches were minor and/or inadvertent, and that there was no deliberate attempt to mislead”.

The Tories also pointed out that Labour had demanded an investigation into donations to Boris and Carrie Johnson to put up gold wallpaper in Downing Street in 2021.