Sir Keir Starmer’s wife has been spotted in public for the first time since a sleaze scandal surrounding freebies emerged this weekend – at a London fashion show.
Brazenly ignoring the criticism that Sir Keir failed to declare the £5,000 clobber freebie from Labour donor Lord Alli, Victoria Starmer flaunted a high-end custom-made dress at the London Fashion Week address.
She sat in the front row of the catwalk, wearing a navy blue jacket, spotty dress and sunglasses.
Lord Alli, who is also Sir Keir’s biggest personal donor, has already faced down one cronyism row since Labour’s election victory, after it emerged he had been given a Downing Street security pass.
According to The Sunday Times, who broke the story, Mrs Starmer received thousands in free designer clothes from the rich benefactor, as well as having a personal shopper paid for her.
While Sir Keir has promised an end to sleaze, and insisted transparency is “very important” to him, numerous critics have now piled on following allegations of hypocrisy.
During Boris Johnson’s premiership, Sir Keir slammed Mr Johnson after it emerged he and his wife had accepted a large sum of money from a Tory donor to renovate the No.10 flat.
Sir Keir accused Mr Johnson of failing to answer questions, telling the Commons: “The PM will be aware he is required to declare any benefits that relate to his political activities including loans or credit arrangements within 28 days.”
“He will also know that any donation must be recorded in the register of ministers’ interests and that under the law any donation of £500 to a political party must be registered and declared.”
“So the rules are very clear!”
This afternoon, a former Labour MP also slammed Sir Keir, pointing out the juxtaposition of his free designer clothes ahead of pensioners freezing to death this winter after losing their Winter Fuel Allowance.
Beth Winter, the former MP for Cynon Valley, tweeted: “I will be putting in a request this week to Lord Alli to buy some nice warm coats to the many pensioners in Wales who can no longer afford to heat their homes.”
Former Tory minister and Boris Johnson ally Nigel Adams added: “Being given tickets for football matches, gigs etc is a nice perk of the job. But accepting designer clothes for you and your wife and not declaring it, whilst pitching yourself as a paragon of virtue is grubby.”
“Nobody should surprised he’s a hypocrite.”
Speaking on the BBC today, Tory MP Danny Kruger pointed out: “The question is not so much whether Lady Starmer declared her gifts on time, it’s what Lord Alli got in exchange for it.”
“He had a pass to Downing Street. This Labour donor, hosting other donors at the heart of Downing Street, he had access all areas. He is clearly not a public servant, he is not there in the interests of the British people, he is there in the interests of the Labour Party, the Prime Minister and his wife.”
Sir Keir has said his team “reached out for advice on what declaration should be made, so it’s in accordance with the rules.”
“They then sought out for further advice more recently, as a result of which they made the relevant declarations.
“But for me it’s really important that the rules are followed. That’s why I was very pleased my team reached out proactively – not once, but twice – because it is very important that we have transparency, very important that you and others can see the rules are being followed.”