Lisa Nandy breached governance code in appointing campaign donor as football watchdog chair | OneFootball

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has admitted to breaching the governance code for public appointments regarding her choice for the new football watchdog's chairman.

In a letter addressed to Sir Keir Starmer, Ms Nandy apologised for contravening the rules by not disclosing that David Kogan, her appointee, had previously donated to her leadership campaign.

A report by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, investigating Mr Kogan’s selection as chairman of the Independent Football Regulator, concluded that she had "unknowingly" committed this "error".

The government’s appointment of Labour donor Mr Kogan as chairman of the Independent Football Regulator made three breaches of the Governance Code, the independent Commissioner for Public Appointments ruled.

As well as Ms Nandy’s failure to disclose his donations, a potential conflict of interest was not discussed with Mr Kogan at interview, and his links to the Labour Party were not revealed, Sir William Shawcross said in a report.

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.

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, she “chose to declare them and recuse myself” from the appointment process.

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David Kogan was appointed chair of the Independent Football Regulator (House of Commons/UK Parliament)

“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 interests.

“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.”

It comes a week after the Prime Minister cleared Rachel Reeves over her failure to obtain a rental licence for her south London family home.

It also follows on the heels of several high-profile exits from Government as a result of scandals.

Among these was Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister and housing secretary, who resigned following a row about her tax affairs.

Lord Mandelson was also sacked as ambassador to Washington after details of his relationship with the dead paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein came to light.