The Electoral Commission has found “no evidence” that Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney was involved in “any potential offences” over a £700,000 undeclared donations scandal, dealing a blow to Conservative attempts to reignite controversy at the heart of Downing Street.
The watchdog also confirmed it will not reopen its investigation into donations made to Labour Together when it was led by McSweeney between 2017 and 2020, despite Tory demands for a fresh probe following the emergence of leaked legal advice suggesting the think tank’s explanation for the failures may have been misleading.
The Electoral Commission had previously fined Labour Together £14,250 in September 2021 for more than 20 breaches of electoral law after it failed to declare £739,492 in donations within the required 30-day period during McSweeney’s tenure as director.
Conservative Attack Fails to Land
The decision represents a significant setback for Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake, who had called for both the Electoral Commission and police to investigate McSweeney over what he described as a “potential crime” that showed the Prime Minister’s chief of staff had been “caught red-handed hiding hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The Tories had published a leaked email from Labour lawyer Gerald Shamash to McSweeney in 2021, which showed the lawyer advising him to describe the failure to declare donations as an “admin error” rather than claiming he believed declarations were not necessary. Shamash warned there was “no easy way to explain” how Labour Together had failed to report the donations and suggested marking them as administrative oversights would be “perhaps best.”
Conservative sources claimed this proved McSweeney had deliberately misled the Electoral Commission, with Hollinrake stating: “The evidence is clear – Morgan McSweeney has been caught red-handed hiding hundreds of thousands of pounds which helped install Keir Starmer as Labour leader.
Electoral Commission Stands Firm
However, the Electoral Commission has now definitively closed the door on further action. A spokeswoman stated: “The commission thoroughly investigated the late reporting of donations by Labour Together and published our findings in 2021. We were satisfied that the evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that failures by the association occurred without reasonable excuse. Offences were determined and they were sanctioned accordingly.”
The watchdog emphasised that its 2021 investigation had been comprehensive and that the leaked email did not constitute grounds for reopening the case. The fine of £14,250 was described at the time as being “towards the high end” of the Commission’s scale for such breaches.
Labour Together’s Role in Starmer’s Rise
Labour Together played a crucial role in Sir Keir Starmer’s ascent to the Labour leadership in 2020, working to move the party away from Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing politics. Under McSweeney’s direction from 2017, the think tank developed strategies to build what he called a “sustainable winning electoral coalition.”
The undeclared donations included significant sums from wealthy donors, including pro-Israel businessman Trevor Chinn. Critics on the Labour left have long argued that the funding was used to orchestrate Corbyn’s downfall and install Starmer as leader, though Labour Together has consistently denied any impropriety.
McSweeney left his role at Labour Together in April 2020 to become Starmer’s chief of staff after the leadership election victory. It was only after his departure that his successor, Hannah O’Rourke, discovered the extent of unreported donations and filed a series of late declarations to the Electoral Commission.
Political Fallout Limited
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy dismissed the Conservative attacks as “muck-raking,” while Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden expressed full confidence in McSweeney, describing him as “a person of enormous talent” who was “very effective” and had been “integral” to Labour’s general election victory.
McFadden told Times Radio: “These issues that are being raised today, the Electoral Commission said yesterday that they looked into them all four or five years ago. So I think they’ve all been examined in the past.”
Labour Together released a statement emphasising its cooperation with the original investigation: “Labour Together proactively raised concerns about its own reporting of donations to the Electoral Commission in 2020. The Electoral Commission’s investigation, with which Labour Together fully co-operated, was completed in 2021. The outcome was made public and widely covered by the media at the time.”
McSweeney’s Position Secure
Despite recent turbulence in Number 10, including the departures of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador, McSweeney’s position appears secure following the Electoral Commission’s decision. Downing Street has consistently maintained that the Prime Minister has “full confidence” in his chief of staff.
The controversy had threatened to engulf another key figure in Starmer’s inner circle at a particularly sensitive time for the government. McSweeney, a native of Macroom, County Cork, has been credited as the mastermind behind both Starmer’s leadership victory and Labour’s landslide general election success.
Political commentators have compared McSweeney to Dominic Cummings, noting his significant influence despite holding no elected office. The New Statesman recently ranked him as “the most influential person on the left today,” while The Times described him as wielding more power than anyone in British politics without elected office.
Tory Strategy Backfires
The Conservative attempt to weaponise the donations scandal appears to have backfired, with Labour sources suggesting it demonstrates desperation from an opposition party struggling to land effective attacks on the government. Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook dismissed the allegations as “yet more mudslinging from the Conservatives in a desperate bid to stay relevant as a party.”
The timing of the Conservative attack, coming shortly before the publication of a book about McSweeney by journalist Paul Holden entitled “The Fraud,” had led to speculation about coordinated efforts to destabilise the Prime Minister’s top adviser.
With the Electoral Commission’s definitive statement that no evidence of potential offences has been found and its refusal to reopen the investigation, McSweeney can now focus on his role at the heart of government without the threat of legal proceedings hanging over him. The decision marks the end of a four-year saga that began when Labour Together first approached the Electoral Commission about its reporting failures in 2020.
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