A cabinet minister has defended Lisa Nandy after the culture secretary apologised for breaching the governance code on public appointments over her choice of the independent football regulator.
Ms Nandy has been accused by the Conservatives of “cronyism” after she “unknowingly” broke the code by failing to declare she had received £2,900 in donations from David Kogan, her pick to chair the new football watchdog.
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Speaking to Anna Jones on Sky News, Housing Secretary Steve Reed said Ms Nandy had apologised for her actions and did not know he was a donor at the time she appointed him.
“As soon as she found out, she took the appropriate action and the independent investigator has confirmed that,” he said.
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In October, Mr Kogan was appointed as the football regulator, conceived by the Tories in the wake of the furore over the failed European Super League project.
However, his appointment became controversial after it emerged that Mr Kogan, a former broadcasting executive who has advised clients including the Premier League, was not on the original shortlist and donated to the leadership campaigns of both future prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, as well as Ms Nandy.
Sir William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, ruled that the government’s appointment of Mr Kogan made three breaches of the code.
As well as Ms Nandy’s failure to disclose his donations to her 2020 leadership campaign, the potential conflict of interest arising from that was not discussed with Mr Kogan at interview, and his links to the Labour Party were not revealed, the report said.
Mr Kogan was also a director of LabourList, the independent news site, and has written two books about the party.
In a letter to the prime minister, Ms Nandy said: “I am writing to you following the publication of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ report into the appointment of the chair of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) released [on Thursday].
“The commissioner’s conclusions include a finding that I unknowingly breached an aspect of the governance code on public appointments. I deeply regret this error. I appreciate the perception it could create, but it was not deliberate and I apologise for it.”
In her letter to Sir Keir following the findings, she said: “I welcome the clear recognition that I did not know about two donations I received as a leadership candidate in 2020, when I was a backbench opposition MP, and that as soon as I discovered these donations existed, I chose to declare them and recuse myself from the process.
“I want to assure you that I took robust steps before the process began to check the Electoral Commission and parliamentary register for any donations I had received since I became a member of parliament in 2010, and made proactive enquiries with former campaign staff. None of these clear steps identified the donations in question.”
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Sir Keir told Ms Nandy in a written reply that she had “acted in good faith”, but said “the process followed was not entirely up to the standard expected”.
Mr Kogan said in a statement: “I have cooperated fully throughout the investigation and can now draw a line under the process.
“As the commissioner states, my suitability for the role has never been in question and at no point was I aware of any deviation from best practice.
“It is now time to move on and get on with the business of setting up the IFR [independent football regulator] so we can tackle the critical and urgent issues facing football.”
The Tories accused Labour of “cronyism” over the appointment and said it was “completely untenable”.
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Shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston said: “This appointment bears all the hallmarks of Labour cronyism. We now know there have been three clear breaches of the process, leaving this appointment completely untenable.
“If Labour is serious about integrity and transparency, this appointment must be withdrawn immediately. Anything less would be a betrayal of the very standards Labour claim to uphold.”
