Overview

• The Conservatives published a 2021 email from Labour lawyer Gerald Shamash advising Morgan McSweeney to drop an unproven claim about regulator guidance and to frame the non-reporting as an administrative mistake.
• The Electoral Commission said it completed a 2021 probe that fined Labour Together £14,250 and confirmed it is considering the new material sent by the Conservatives.
• Roughly £739,492 in donations to Labour Together from 2018 to July 2020 were not declared during McSweeney’s tenure and were later filed as late declarations by his successor, Hannah O’Rourke.
• Commission records show McSweeney was told in 2017 that donations had to be declared, contradicting his claim that a 2018 conversation indicated reporting was unnecessary.
• Downing Street says Keir Starmer retains full confidence in his chief of staff as Conservative figures call for both regulatory and police investigations.