Lisa Nandy did not declare that she had accepted donations from the man she picked to chair her government’s new football watchdog. This is a fact, and not something anyone is denying.
If you believe Nandy, she didn’t know David Kogan had donated to her, and the situation is just another cock up in a long line of cock ups for Starmer’s government.
If you don’t believe Nandy, it’s another cronyism scandal in a long line of cronyism scandals.
Among those who believe the latter, is Zarah Sultana:
Let’s call this what it is: cronyism.
Lisa Nandy should resign. https://t.co/26j05Sm8V2
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) November 7, 2025
Lisa Nandy — full time
Let’s imagine for a moment that this wasn’t cronyism.
The donation in question was for just £2,900, given by Kogan in 2020 when she ran to be the Labour leader. As the review into Nandy found, she had ample opportunity to check if Kogan had donated to her personally, because she was told by officials that Kogan had:
extensive links to the Labour Party and had made several donations to it
Whether or not he’d donated to Nandy personally, she knew he was a Labour donor. Given that rich people can donate obscene amounts to political parties, she should really have looked into this.
The commissioner reviewing the matter did actually find it to be a breach. Labour failed to disclose Kogan’s donations when they named him as the government’s choice for the Independent Football Regulator (IFR). They additionally said it was a breach not to discuss his donations during his interview.
These breaches don’t seem to mean anything, because Nandy remains in place.
Get money out of politics
So, if it wasn’t cronyism, there’s a solution to all this, and it’s to get money out of politics.
Unless we cap how much individuals and businesses can donate to political candidates and parties, voters will always mistrust the government. Any politician who doesn’t care about this thinks the mistrust is worth it because…
…they get something out of it?
We wonder what that could be?
While you may be imagining bags of cash, the reality is an ability to earn unlimited amounts in a post-political career working as a lobbyist or doing dinner circuit speeches.
INSIDE THE TONY BLAIR INSTITUTE with @LHreports, @PeterKGeoghegan and @maybulman
Since 2021, Larry Ellison’s personal foundation – the Larry Ellison Foundation – has donated or pledged at least £257m to the Tony Blair Institute, making it a think tank like no other in the UK.… pic.twitter.com/xsOM09MyJb
— The New Statesman (@NewStatesman) September 25, 2025
Lisa Nandy — Cronyism
Now, let’s imagine it is cronyism.
Firstly, it doesn’t cost much to buy Lisa Nandy, does it?
Secondly, this isn’t even the only reason she’s facing calls to resign:
How can Lisa Nandy’s position be tenable? It seems she clearly misled the Parliament & public about the reasons why Maccabi Fans were banned from their match against Villa.
It wasn’t antisemitism.
Police confirm it was due to the threat caused by a section of Maccabi hooligans. https://t.co/YPZnNEO7MT
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) November 7, 2025
As ever, Starmer is keeping a scandal-struck minister in place for as long as possible to do the maximum damage to his party’s reputation (that or he’s simply very incompetent):
Good question, why hasn’t Nandy been sacked? Her offence dwarves what Rayner and Haigh were sacked. Nandy gave a plumb public job to one her biggest donors. Cash for jobs? Coward Starmer won’t do anything until it’s too late. https://t.co/5HBhO6FLsD
— Devutopia (@D_Raval) November 8, 2025
Nandy may survive these scandals, but what little remained of her reputation will not.
Featured image via Number 10
