Starmer gifted use of a hospitality box by Arsenal football club

ITV News has learnt that Sir Keir Starmer has been given the use of a hospitality box at Arsenal, as Political Editor Robert Peston reports

The prime minister has been given the use of a corporate box by Arsenal football club, ITV News understands.

This will add many thousands of pounds to the gifts he is forced to declare in Parliament’s register.

The prime minister is a season ticket holder at Arsenal and a passionate supporter.

However, he has been unable to use his normal seats because the logistics for his security guards of keeping him safe in the general-public area of the ground - the club’s West Stand - has proved impossible.

Instead, Arsenal is providing a corporate box for him, his family and his protection officers.

Arsenal advertise the cost of these boxes per game as “from £8,750”, so it wouldn’t take many games for the value of a gifted box to run to £100,000 or more.

So far, Starmer has used a box for just the first game of the season, which was Arsenal’s victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers. He missed the draw with Brighton.

Starmer has attracted attention for the scale of the gifts he has received since becoming leader of the Labour Party in June.

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The Guardian newspaper calculates he has received more than £100,000 worth of football tickets, concert tickets, clothes and spectacles.

He was criticised for failing to disclose that his wife, Victoria, had been given high-end clothing by the Labour donor and adviser Lord Alli.

His colleagues said this was a mistake made because the rules are complicated and his office had not believed it was necessary to make the disclosure to parliament’s register.

UPDATE

Here is a funny thing. I am slightly struck, via Arsenal sources, that the club is keen for the world to know there is no formal arrangement with the prime minister.

Not that I said there was. I did not say Arsenal “gifted” the minister permanent use of a specific box for his exclusive use throughout the season.

There was no suggestion of that in my blog. I pointed out the club understands his security issues, and would help him when they can, as they did on the first game of the season.

To be clear though, each and any match the PM attends on that basis represents a generous gift by most standards. Starmer is an authentic, a proper, Arsenal and football supporter.

And he would much rather be in the stands. But security needs must.

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