The parliamentary standards commissioner is investigating whether Labour leader broke declarations rules by registering additional earnings and gifts late on a string of occasions.
Parliamentary rules state that MPs must declare any interests which could be considered to influence their actions within 28 days, a deadline which Sir Keir appears to have missed on multiple occasions according to the BBC.
Among the late-filed interests were an oil painting worth £1,500 gifted by a donor to the Labour leader on November 23, 2021, which was not declared until December 20 in the same year.
Publishing house Harper Collins also gave Sir Keir an advance payment of £18,450 for writing a book, which was paid in on April 19, 2022, and not declared until May 18.
Among other late declarations were tickets gifted to Sir Keir and his staff by Just Eat to attend the British Kebab Awards and Taste of London, and tickets for football matches at Crystal Palace and Watford which were worth £720 and £1,416 respectively.
However, Sir Keir insists that he is guilty of no wrongdoing.
He said: “I am confident there is no problem here.”
A spokesperson for Sir Keir separately said that the Labour leader had apologised for the late filings, which were blamed on “administrative errors”.
The spokesperson said: “Keir Starmer takes his declaration responsibilities very seriously and has already apologised for the fact that administrative errors in his office have led to a small number of late declarations.
“The standards commissioner has asked for more information which we are happy to provide.”
Image taken from Wikimedia Commons
