By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-19 03:14:56 | Updated at 2026-08-19 05:42:56
2 hours ago
Andy Burnham was given support and hospitality worth nearly £350,000 in the four months before becoming Prime Minister alone.
The six-figure sum was spent on his political campaign and included £35,000 from his former mayoral adviser Sacha Lord, new filings have revealed.
Hospitality worth £13,360 was also declared, including four tickets and accommodation at Glastonbury worth £2,520 and two tickets to Ladies' Day at Aintree received in the year before he became an MP.
A Labour Party spokesman told The Times: "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."
The first register of financial interests since Mr Burnham entered No10, the funds were used for mayoral, by-election and Labour leadership campaigns.
Billionaire and longstanding Labour donor Lord Sainsbury of Turville was the single largest backer, providing support worth £164.347.
This included £66,662 to pay those working on his leadership campaign, office space value at £23,025 and £49,700 to fund staff working on policy and operations.
Another £25,000 was given to the Prime Minister's leadership campaign.
Andy Burnham received nearly £350,000 worth of support in his first register of interests
PA
Mr Lord, who served in the unpaid role of Greater Manchester’s Night Time Economy Adviser contributed £35,930 towards staff, accommodation and other campaign costs.
The Parklife music festival founder resigned from his adviser role after Arts Council England sought to recover a £400,000 Covid grant awarded to one of his companies after concluding the application contained incorrect or misleading information.
Mr Lord has denied any wrongdoing.
Charlie Parsons Creative, a company owned by the television executive and Labour donor, gave £50,000, while Gary Lubner, the former chief executive company behind Autoglass, donated £25,000.
Sacha Lord contributed £35,930 after serving as Greater Manchester's Night Time Economy Adviser
GETTY
Shalni Arora gave £10,000 towards Mr Burnham's by-election campaign while Lord Blunkett, the former Home Secretary contributed £2,000.
A number of unions gave funds to the Makerfield MP.
Four donations of £5,000 came from the Fire Brigades Union, its northwest regional office, the Communication Workers Union and Unison.
ThinkLabour, the think tank formerly known as Labour Together, provided £22.186 of staff and IT equipment, while Ernst & Young, one of the "big four" professional services firms, supplied a member of staff on secondment, worth £16,500.
Lord Sainsbury of Turville was the single greatest contributor to Andy Burnham's campaign
WIKIMEDIA / POLICY EXCHANGE
Mr Burnham also received a number of tickets to events.
The Prime Minister received two tickets from Lancashire Cricket Club to watch the Hundred Manchester Originals v London Spirit cricket match at Old Trafford Cricket ground, valued £458.
He also received a ticket worth £625 to the O2 Silver Clef Awards, where he presented an award.
Sony Music provided two tickets worth £3,800 to attend the 2026 iteration of the Brit Awards, which were being hosted in Manchester.
Flights and accommodation to a property conference in Nice, worth £2,001, were paid for by Marketing Manchester, while Bloomberg covered £2,506 for Mr Burnham to attend an event in Madrid.
He also received a gift of a hamper basket and Wedgwood tea seat from the Ambassador of Qatar, worth £340.
New MPs are obliged to declare all donations they received in the 12 months before they are elected.
