The £740,000 "Admin Error" That Won't Go Away
The Scandal That Won't Stay Buried
A leaked email has reignited a row that Labour thought it had buried. Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer's chief of staff and the architect of Labour's election landslide, is back under fire.
The email, from Gerald Shamash — a veteran Labour lawyer — shows that McSweeney was advised in 2021 to explain away £739,492 in undeclared donations to his think-tank Labour Together as an "admin error."
This revelation cuts against the think-tank's long-standing claim that it was merely guilty of "human error and administrative oversight." It also drags the issue into today's headlines, at precisely the moment when Labour is under pressure for sliding poll ratings.
What the Lawyer Actually Said
- Shamash warned McSweeney against sticking to his claim that the Electoral Commission had told him he didn't need to declare donations.
- No evidence existed to support such a conversation.
- Instead, Shamash suggested: better to admit "admin error" and push the Commission towards a penalty that would "minimise publicity."
In his words: "It may be better if Labour Together cannot deal substantively with questions I pose, then perhaps best to simply base our case… as admin error."
The Timeline of Trouble
- 2017: McSweeney takes over Labour Together. The Electoral Commission explicitly tells him to declare donations within 30 days.
- 2018–2020: McSweeney largely stops declaring donations. Only one is disclosed — £12,500 from Trevor Chinn.
- July 2020: McSweeney leaves to work for Starmer.
- 2021: His replacement discovers nearly three years of undeclared donations worth £739,000 and rushes to declare them late.
- September 2021: Labour Together is fined £14,250 for over 20 breaches of electoral law.
Tory Attack Lines
Conservatives have wasted no time weaponising the email. Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake:
"The evidence is clear – Morgan McSweeney has been caught red-handed hiding hundreds of thousands of pounds which helped install Keir Starmer as Labour leader. This latest scandal at the very heart of government is incredibly serious – and potentially criminal."
Hollinrake accused Starmer of "poor judgment" for backing McSweeney, linking it to the "Mandelson-Epstein scandal" and demanding a full Electoral Commission and police investigation.
Why This Matters Politically
- McSweeney isn't just any adviser; he is Starmer's strategist-in-chief, the man who built the election machine. Any scandal around him bleeds into questions about Starmer's own judgment.
- Labour MPs are already restless over flatlining polls and the controversial idea of sending Peter Mandelson to Washington. This adds fuel to the fire.
- The Conservatives now have a simple line: if Labour's clean-government pitch is real, why is Starmer standing by a chief of staff tied to nearly three-quarters of a million in "hidden" donations?
The Big Question
Was it really an "admin error" — or a calculated risk that backfired?
With the paper trail now public, and the lawyer's own email contradicting Labour Together's claims of openness, the line between oversight and cover-up is blurrier than ever.
One thing is certain: the scandal Labour thought it had consigned to 2021 has returned at the worst possible time.
