Sue Gray’s MP son Liam Conlon was handed £10,000 to spice up marketing campaign
The son of Sir Keir Starmer‘s closest aide got a £10,000 boost to his election campaign from Lord Alli.
Liam Conlon, whose mother is the PM’s Chief of Staff Sue Gray, is one of six Labour MPs to have declared recent donations totalling £1.3million from the well-connected peer.
He was selected to stand in Beckenham and Penge late last year and in January his constituency party received £10,000 from Lord Alli, records from the Electoral Commission watchdog show.
Mr Conlon, who won the seat in July and has already been appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary, declared the donation as ‘support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation’ in transparency returns published last month.
It was the biggest amount he declared from an individual, ahead of donations of £4,000 and £2,000 from two other Labour supporters.
Liam Conlon (pictured) was selected to stand in Beckenham and Penge late last year and in January his constituency party received £10,000 from Lord Alli
Conlon, whose mother is the PM’s Chief of Staff Sue Gray (pictured), is one of six Labour MPs to have declared recent donations totalling £1.3million from the well-connected peer
His Constituency Labour Party (CLP) also got £12,000 from a branch of the GMB along with four other donations from different trade unions which totalled £16,000.
Mr Conlon’s mother Ms Gray, a career civil servant who was controversially poached to work for Labour last year, is said to be close to Lord Alli and he reportedly supported her preparations for government.
She is suspected of being at the centre of the growing cronyism row over party donors and staffers who have been given senior Whitehall jobs.
As the Mail told on Saturday, Ms Gray is accused of refusing to sign off on the appointments of political special advisers.
This has led to ministers including Chancellor Rachel Reeves hiring Labour figures as civil servants instead, which Ms Gray cannot easily block.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (pictured) has hired labour figures as civil servants
Shadow Paymaster General John Glen (pictured) told the Civil Service Commission watchdog he understands that Starmer’s Chief of Staff ‘blocked’ special adviser appointments
Shadow Paymaster General John Glen has told the Civil Service Commission watchdog: ‘I understand that the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff has personally blocked a number of special adviser appointments.
‘I am concerned that this may have led to ministers trying to circumvent the rules by appointing such political advisers as normal civil servants, which do not require 10 Downing Street’s approval.’
