Culture Secretary breached governance code in appointing football watchdog chair

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy was found by a probe to have breached the code on public appointments by failing to declare she had received donations from her pick to chair the new football watchdog.

In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, she apologised for “unknowingly” breaking the rules by not disclosing that David Kogan had given £2,900 to her leadership campaign in the 2020 race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.

The Prime Minister replied that she had “acted in good faith”, but reprimanded her by saying “the process followed was not entirely up to the standard expected”.

Mr Kogan, a media rights expert, was named as the Government’s preferred candidate to chair the Independent Football Regulator in April.

But a probe was launched in the summer after the revelation he had donated money to both Sir Keir and Ms Nandy – as well as other Labour figures – drew complaints from the Tories and calls for the commissioner for public appointments to investigate.

In his report published on Thursday, commissioner Sir William Shawcross ruled that the Government’s appointment of Labour donor Mr Kogan made three breaches of the Governance Code on public appointments.

As well as Ms Nandy’s failure to disclose his donations, the potential conflict of interest arising from that was not discussed with Mr Kogan at interview, and his links to the Labour Party were not revealed, the commissioner said.

Mr Kogan made two donations totalling £2,900 to Ms Nandy in 2020.

Sir William accepted she “unknowingly” breached the code, but said she should have checked whether she had received funds from him when she selected Mr Kogan as the Government’s top candidate, given she had been told by then about his “extensive links” to the Labour Party.

The commissioner said that when announcing Mr Kogan’s preferred candidacy, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport should have publicly disclosed his political activity, namely the £33,410 donated by him and his company to the Labour Party and Labour candidates in the five years prior.

Mr Kogan, in response to the findings, said he had never been “aware of any deviation from best practice” in the appointment process and could “now draw a line under the process”.

Ms Nandy told the Prime Minister: “The commissioner’s conclusions include a finding that I unknowingly breached an aspect of the Governance Code on Public Appointments. I deeply regret this error. I appreciate the perception it could create, but it was not deliberate and I apologise for it.”

She said she welcomed “the clear recognition that I did not know about two donations”, and that as soon as she found out about them in June, she “chose to declare them and recuse myself” from the appointment process.

“I want to assure you that I took robust steps before the process began to check the Electoral Commission and Parliamentary register for any donations I had received since I became a Member of Parliament in 2010, and made proactive inquiries with former campaign staff. None of these clear steps identified the donations in question.”

In a written response to Ms Nandy’s apology, the Prime Minister said: “I note the commissioner’s findings that the error was unknowing and I accept your assurance there was no intentional or deliberate action on your part to undermine the expectations set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

“I know you to be a person of integrity and on the basis of your letter, it is clear you have acted in good faith.”

He added: “Nonetheless, the process followed was not entirely up to the standard expected and I welcome your department’s willingness to co-operate with the commissioner and the Cabinet Office to learn lessons, and to improve the guidance on handling conflicts of interest.

“I also recognise that the report in no way casts any doubt on the suitability of Mr Kogan for the important role of chair of the Independent Football Regulator.”

Mr Kogan was originally approached about the football regulator job by the Conservatives while they were still in office, and has advised the Premier League, EFL and other leagues on broadcast rights.

He has also donated thousands of pounds to Labour MPs and candidates in recent years, and sat on the board of Labour news website LabourList.

Mr Kogan said: “I have co-operated fully throughout the investigation and can now draw a line under the process.

“As the commissioner states, my suitability for the role has never been in question and at no point was I aware of any deviation from best practice.

“It is now time to move on and get on with the business of setting up the IFR so we can tackle the critical and urgent issues facing football.”

The Tories said the decision to appoint Mr Kogan represented “a serious breach of public trust”.

Shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston said: “This appointment bears all the hallmarks of Labour cronyism. We now know there have been three clear breaches of the process, leaving this appointment completely untenable.

“If Labour is serious about integrity and transparency, this appointment must be withdrawn immediately.”