Keir Starmer reveals another £16,000 clothes donation from Labour peer Waheed Alli

was given additional clothes valued at £16,000 from wealthy peer Waheed Alli, which the Prime Minister declared as a donation to his private office, it was been revealed.

The donations, consisting of two instalments of £10,000 in October 2023 and £6,000 the following February, bring the total value of clothing accepted by Sir Keir to £32,000 – not far below the average UK salary, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The most recent donations were at first described as being for the private office of the leader of the opposition, meaning they were not publicly known until now.

is believed to have consulted with the registrar of MPs’ interests and will reclassify the donations as clothing given in kind. His original declarations were made within the required timeframe.

Nevertheless, the latest disclosure is likely to reopen the debate over donations accepted by Starmer and other frontbenchers while they were in opposition – many from Mr Alli, a prominent media entrepreneur.

The PM has faced further questions for his decision to accept almost £2,400 for glasses, and for staying in an £18m penthouse during the election campaign, courtesy of Alli, in order to provide his son with a quiet place to say during his GCSEs.

Sir Keir has also faced criticism for taking luxury gifts, including thousands of pounds worth of football and concert tickets for Taylor Swift.

His wife, Victoria, as well as Labour heavyweights including Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Deputy PM , have also received free clothes.

After a public backlash, all three have since said they will no longer accept clothing while in office.

Labour has defended these donations, pointing out that all political parties, while in opposition, invest in the image and presentation of their candidates, including clothing, media training, and photography.

It was earlier this month revealed that the parliamentary standards watchdog would not be investigating Starmer’s previous failure to declare clothes donated to his wife by Alli.

Since becoming Labour leader, Sir Keir has accepted almost 40 free tickets, mostly to football matches, plus £4,000 in hospitality for a Taylor Swift concert and £698 for Coldplay tickets in Manchester.

During an appearance on Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday, host Nick Robinson said: “The principle that people are talking about is: ‘buy your own stuff.’”

Sir Keir said: “I won’t be making declarations in relation to clothing, again, understood.

“In relation to the second example you put to me, football, I’ve bought season tickets in the stand, and I’ve them had a long time, and I go with my boy, who’s 16.

“As a result of security, I can’t go in the stand, so Arsenal Football Club said, ‘Be our guest in the director’s box if and when you can get to a match.

“And that actually is a ticket you can’t buy. People say, ‘Well, why don’t you pay for it?’ You can’t buy a ticket in the director’s box, but it means I can continue to do something which is really special to me, which is to go to football with my boy.”

Questioned about stayed at Lord Alli’s property, he continued: “Let me just tell you what that was for. That was because at the beginning of the election, and we didn’t know when it’s going to be called, my boy, 16, was in the middle of his GCSEs.

“I made him a promise, a promise that he would be able to get to his school and do his exams without being disturbed.

“We had lots of journalists outside our house where we live. I’m not complaining about that, that’s fine. But if you’re a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs, and it’s your one chance in life, I promised him we would move somewhere, we’d get out of that house and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying.

“Somebody then offered me accommodation where we could do that, and I took it up and it was the right thing to do for my book.”