Lisa Nandy has been found to have breached the governance code on public appointments after choosing David Kogan as chairman of the Independent Football Regulator.
The Commissioner for Public Appointments report said that Nandy had failed to declare that Mr Kogan had previously donated to her Labour leadership campaign in the 2020 race to replace Jeremy Corbyn.
Three breaches were flagged in the report into Nandy’s appointment of David Kogan.
Firstly, the culture secretary failed to declare Mr Kogan had donated to her leadership campaign before selecting him as the government’s preferred candidate, Sir William Shawcross said in a report.
Secondly, a potential conflict of interest was not discussed with Mr Kogan at the interview.
Finally, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport failed to disclose Mr Kogan’s political activity in the appropriate manner, notably his links to the Labour Party.
The Culture Secretary apologised to Sir Keir Starmer for the ‘unknowing’ breach in the governance code.
She said in a letter: “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.
“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.”
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The prime minister, in his reply, told Nandy, “I accept your assurance there was no intentional or deliberate action on your part to undermine the expectations set out” in the code.
“I know you to be a person of integrity and on the basis of your letter, it is clear you have acted in good faith,” Sir Keir wrote.
“Nonetheless, the process followed was not entirely up to the standard expected and I welcome your Department’s willingness to cooperate with the Commissioner and the Cabinet Office to learn lessons and to improve the guidance on handling conflicts of interests.
“I also recognise that the report in no way casts any doubt on the suitability of Mr Kogan for the important role of chair of the Independent Football Regulator. It is important now that the government gets on with delivering our manifesto commitment to make Britain the best place in the world to be a football fan.”
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