Donors to Andy Burnham gave almost £350,000 over the months before he became Labour leader and prime minister, with major contributors including his former adviser Sacha Lord as well as billionaires David Sainsbury and Gary Lubner.
The new MPs’ register of interests also shows Burnham declaring hospitality and trips worth more than £12,000 – many of them relating to Greater Manchester in his former role as mayor but also including £1,500 of Glastonbury tickets in 2025, where he was speaking, and £500 of tickets to Ladies Day at Aintree this year.
The register is the first in which Burnham has recorded his financial interests as an MP since he became prime minister. It also shows he recently set up a company called Office of Andy Burnham, which leaders often do to manage their financial affairs after leaving office, and that he owns a property in London with his wife, which is rented out.
Other cabinet ministers to make new declarations include Louise Haigh, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who accepted £11,000 from Sainsbury to pay for legal advice and £7,500 of legal services from Bindmans law firm.
A source close to Haigh said: “The donations related to legal services provided during the declaration period in relation to misrepresentation in the media.”
Haigh is believed to have taken legal advice around media coverage about her conviction for fraud in relation to a missing phone in 2024. She resigned as transport secretary when it became public last November but has since been brought back to run Burnham’s leadership campaign and as one of the most senior members of his cabinet.
Burnham’s donations, which began in March this year, include £20,000 from trade unions including Unison, the CWU and Fire Brigades Union. But the biggest financial supporter was Sainsbury, a billionaire and long-term Labour donor who gave more than £160,000, including paying for staff working on policy.
He was also given the services of a staff member on secondment by Ernst & Young, and £35,000 from Lord, including staffing and contractor costs, travel, venue hire, digital platforms, social media support, message testing, polling and campaign setup.
Lord, who was Burnham’s unpaid night-time economy adviser in Manchester, resigned from the role in January 2025 after the Arts Council England said that his company misled them in applying for a £400,000 Covid support grant, though Lord denies any wrongdoing. The donor was one of those present at No 10 at the time Burnham made his first speech as prime minister.
Burnham was also given £50,000 by a company owned by media executive and Labour donor Charlie Parsons. A further £25,000 came from Lubner, the founder of Autoglass, £10,000 from Shalni Arora, the wife of billionaire Simon Arora, as well as £10,000 from David Blunkett, one of Burnham’s mentors and a former cabinet minister. ThinkLabour, the thinktank formerly known as Labour Together, gave more than £22,000 in staffing and IT equipment.
Shortly after entering Downing Street, Starmer faced criticism for the volume of free tickets to events he had received, including more than £100,000 in hospitality, as well as gifts of clothing and accommodation from Labour peer Waheed Alli. He later changed the rules brought in by the previous Conservative government to ensure that all hospitality taken by ministers is declared, and to create more transparency around the register.
A Labour party spokesperson said: “It’s right that political campaigns are funded by the generous support of party donors, rather than via the public purse. All declarations have been made in line with parliamentary and Electoral Commission rules.”
