Prime Minister Keir Starmer expresses his ‘sincere regret’ over the unfortunate error after confirming he was ‘supportive’ of an appointment – despite recusing himself
Keir Starmer has admitted an “unfortunate error” to his ethics chief over the appointment of England’s football regulator chairman.
The Prime Minister said that despite recusing himself in the process he was “supportive” of Labour donor David Kogan’s appointment after being passed a note in April 2025. Mr Starmer has previously excused himself from decisions due to hospitality received from football clubs “on a number of occasions”.
He also received two donations from Mr Kogan during his bid for the Labour leadership race back in 2020. The blunder comes less than a week after Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, apologised after admitting breaching a code in relation to the same appointment.
She had been found to have unknowingly breached the governance code on public appointments in choosing Mr Kogan as chair of the Independent Football Regulator, including by failing to declare he had donated to her leadership campaign.
READ MORE: Lisa Nandy admits breach of government code over football appointment
In a letter published by No10 today, Mr Starmer told his ethics chief, Sir Laurie Magnus, he had previously declared hospitality from football clubs and the Football Association on a number of occasions.He said: “In light of this, I agreed with you in Autumn 2024 that I would recuse myself from decisions relating to the Football Governance Bill. I have not participated in any decisions relating to this Bill in accordance with that agreement.”
But he went on: “In April 2025 a note was submitted to me informing me that, after running the appointment process, the Culture Secretary wanted to appoint David Kogan as the inaugural Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by the Select Committee. The note asked me whether I was content. I confirmed that I was supportive.
“I knew that the decision was for the Secretary of State to take and I replied on the basis that the decision had been taken. In retrospect, it would have been better if I had not been given the note or confirmed that I was content with the appointment. This was an unfortunate error for which I express my sincere regret.”
In response, Sir Laurie said it was “regrettable” the PM became involved in the appointment of the chairman of the new football regulator despite recusing himself from the decision. But he also said the PM had made an “important demonstration of your commitment to transparency” by discussing what had happened during the process.
Sir Laurie said: “It is regrettable, as you say in your letter, that despite the recusal we agreed in autumn 2024 concerning the Football Governance Bill, you were asked to confirm that you were content with the proposed appointment recommended by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in line with her statutory responsibilities as the appointing authority.
“It is important that robust processes for the management of recusals are in place in No 10, and I welcome the internal review you have commissioned in this connection. I consider that the disclosures made in your letter are an important demonstration of your commitment to transparency and to ensuring that mistakes are acknowledged and necessary steps taken to improve processes underpinning standards in public life.”