Keir Starmer has acknowledged an oversight to the ethics chief regarding the selection of the chairman for England’s football regulatory body.
Despite distancing himself from the process, the Prime Minister expressed his approval of Labour donor David Kogan’s appointment after being informed via a note in April 2025. Starmer had previously abstained from decisions involving football clubs due to receiving hospitality from them on multiple occasions.
Furthermore, he had received donations from Kogan during his campaign for the Labour leadership in 2020. This misstep occurred shortly after Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy apologized for breaching a code related to the same appointment.
Nandy unintentionally violated the governance code for public appointments by appointing Kogan as chair of the Independent Football Regulator without disclosing his contributions to her leadership campaign.
In a letter released by No10, Starmer informed ethics chief Sir Laurie Magnus that he had previously disclosed receiving hospitality from football clubs and the Football Association and had agreed to recuse himself from decisions concerning the Football Governance Bill in Autumn 2024. He clarified that he had not been involved in any decisions related to the Bill as per the agreement.
However, he admitted that in April 2025, he was asked whether he supported the appointment of David Kogan as the inaugural Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, to which he replied affirmatively. Reflecting on this, Starmer expressed regret for his involvement and acknowledged it as an unfortunate error.
In response, Sir Laurie described it as regrettable that the PM had participated in the appointment process despite his recusal. However, he commended Starmer for openly discussing the incident, citing it as a significant demonstration of commitment to transparency.
Sir Laurie emphasized the importance of robust processes for managing recusals within No 10 and welcomed the internal review initiated by Starmer. He viewed the disclosures in Starmer’s letter as crucial for upholding transparency and improving standards in public life.