Chancellor under investigation by parliament's standards commissioner over tickets gifted to her by National Theatre
30 April 2025, 17:42 | Updated: 30 April 2025, 18:25
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is being investigated by Parliament's standards commissioner over her entries in the Commons register of interests.
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Her spokesperson says it is over a late entry.
The issue being investigated is understood by LBC to be related to two tickets gifted to the Chancellor before Christmas.
They say an administrative error as was put on the ministerial register but not on the MPs register.
LBC's political editor Natasha Clark described it as "incredibly embarrassing" for Reeves - particularly ahead of the local elections.
Natasha Clark on Rachel Reeves breaker
Last month, the MP for Leeds West and Pudsey faced criticism over her decision to take free tickets to a concert for poster Sabrina Carpenter.
She later recognised that accepting the tickets to the Espresso star's recent show at the O2 was "a bit odd".
She has cited security as her reason for accepting the hospitality, for herself and a family member, and said she would declare their value to parliamentary authorities.
The PM has backed the Chancellor, with Downing Street saying he "supports all of his ministers making their own judgments" in relation to accepting hospitality within ministerial rules.
Ms Reeves is paid £67,505 as Chancellor on top of her £91,346 MP's salary and previously said she would not accept clothing from donors after revelations that she had received £7,500 worth of clothes in opposition.
Following the so-called "freebies" row, which engulfed Sir Keir's top team after their election win last year, the Prime Minister said he would repay the costs of some gifts he received and tightened hospitality rules to ensure better transparency about what was being donated.
However, he defended his acceptance of corporate hospitality from Arsenal football club, citing security as his reason for doing so, similar to Ms Reeves.
The new code introduced last year did not ban ministers from accepting donations but does now require them to consider the "need to maintain the public's confidence".
