Ed Miliband Publishes List Of Dinners With Donors And Trade Union Officials

Miliband Publishes List Of Donor Dinners

Ed Miliband has published a list of the 43 meetings and dinners he has held with donors and trade union general secretaries since his election as Labour leader 18 months ago.

The disclosure comes following the cash-for-access row that engulfed the prime minister earlier this week.

The list reveals that Miliband has met senior union officials 21 times since his election in September 2010, and often more than one union boss was present at each occasion.

The Labour leader received strong backing from several unions including Unite, Britain's biggest union, and the list shows he has had dinners or meetings with Lenn McCluskey eight times.

He also met with Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, five times since he beat his brother David to the party's top job in 20120.

Last week The Sunday Times revealed that Peter Cruddas, the co-treasurer of the Tory party, was offering potential donors access to David Cameron and influence over policy in exchange for large sums of money.

The prime minister was eventually forced to release a list of dinners he had eaten with Tory party donors in his Downing Street flat and at Cheequers, his official countryside residence.

A Labour spokesperson said the decision to publish the list showed the party believed in "openness and transparency".

“David Cameron should match this by publishing his own list of all meetings and dinners with donors who have given more than £7,500," they said.

According to the party it also includes any donor which has given more than £7,500 – lower than Cameron’s decision to only publish donors over £50,000.

The list also shows Miliband held meetings with Ken Livingstone, the Labour candidate for mayor multiple times. The most recent was dinner at Miliband's home on 23 March.

The Labour leader has also held meetings with property investor, Laboru donor and adviser Andrew Rosenfeld on several occasions.

And he had several dinner and breakfast meetings with Nigel Doughty, an assistant treasurer of the Labour Party as well as a generous donor.

The last meeting with Doughty was on 19 November 2011. Doughty was found dead on 4 February of this year.

Miliband also met Apprentice star and Labour peer Lord Alan Sugar on February 3 2011.

However one notable exception is Alistair Campbell. Tony Blair's former chief spin doctor was Labour's largest individual donor in 2010, giving £10,00 to the party - yet he according to the list published today he has not held a meeting or had dinner with Miliband since the leadership election.

Full list of Ed Miliband's meetings and dinners with donors and trade union general secretaries from 25 September 2010 to date:

  • 4 November 2010 – Nigel Doughty
  • 7 December 2010 - John Hannett (USDAW)
  • 15 December 2010 – Dave Prentis (Unison)
  • 5 January 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE)
  • 13 January 2011 – Paul Kenny (GMB)
  • 17 January 2011 – Lord Bhattacharyya
  • 2 February 2011 – Henry Tinsley (Betterworld Ltd)
  • 3 February 2011 – Lord Alan Sugar
  • 16 February 2011 – Kevin McGrath
  • 3 March 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE), Paul Kenny (GMB), Dave Prentis (Unison)
  • 9 March – Michael Leahy (Community)
  • 24 March 2011 – Nigel Doughty – Breakfast at Ed Miliband’s home
  • 29 March 2011 – Andrew Rosenfeld
  • 29 March 2011 – Graham Jones
  • 29 March 2011 – Lord Waheed Alli (BM Creative Management Ltd)
  • 4 April 2011 –John Hannett (USDAW), Michael Leahy (Community), Len McCluskey (UNITE), Paul Kenny
  • (GMB), Gerry Doherty (TSSA), Billy Hayes (CWU)– Dinner, House of Commons
  • 26 April 2011 – Paul Kenny (GMB)
  • 16 May 2011 –Len McCluskey (UNITE)
  • 17 May 2011 – Ken Livingstone
  • 20 June 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE)
  • 27 June 2011 – John Hannett (USDAW)
  • 28 June 2011 – George Guy (UCATT)
  • 14 July 2011 – George Iacobescu (Canary Wharf plc)
  • 14 July 2011 – Ken Livingstone
  • 22 July 2011 – Andrew Rosenfeld
  • 22 July 2011 – Paul Kenny (GMB)
  • 25 July 2011 – Dave Prentis (Unison)
  • 2 September 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE)
  • 6 September 2011 – Nigel Doughty
  • 13 September 2011 – John Hannett (USDAW)
  • 20 September 2011 - Ken Livingstone
  • 27 October 2011 – Andrew Rosenfeld
  • 10 November 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE), Paul Kenny (GMB), Dave Prentis (UNISON)
  • 19 November 2011 – Nigel Doughty – Dinner at Ed Miliband’s house
  • 16 December 2011 – Andrew Rosenfeld
  • 20 January 2012 – Andrew Rosenfeld – Dinner at Ed Miliband’s home
  • 6 February 2012 – Len McCluskey (UNITE)
  • 9 February 2012 – Dr Assem Allam
  • 21 February 2012 – Dave Prentis (Unison)
  • 1 March 2012 – Andrew Rosenfeld
  • 7 March 2012 – Michael Leahy (Community)/John Hannett (USDAW)
  • 14 March 2012 – Billy Hayes (CWU)
  • 23 March 2012 - Ken Livingstone – Dinner at Ed Miliband’s home
Close

What's Hot