After voting for 21,566 pensioners across York Outer to lose their Winter Fuel Allowance this year, MP Luke Charters has now handed a job to a major Labour Party donor as part of his taxpayer funded parliamentary team.
In Luke Charters’s official Register of Parliamentary interests, Owen Trotter – a well-known local Labour donor and private equity investor – donated £7,921.75 to him this summer. Since 2019, donations totalling £55,521.75 have been made by Mr Trotter to the Labour Party in York Central and York Outer, as well as to the Labour Party centrally.
Now, according to official filings, Mr Trotter appears in Luke Charters’ official register of Parliamentary staff having been sponsored by the MP to support him in his Parliamentary duties.
Mr Trotter, who also sits on the governing body of the University of York, says he is Luke Charters’s “Office Manager” on his University register of interests, while also saying he is the Managing Partner of Key Capital Partners, an investment firm based in Leeds.
Despite his wide range of interests outside Parliament, Mr Trotter has not declared any financial interests in his own Parliamentary declaration as a member of staff to Luke Charters.
The news, which follows widespread allegations of sleaze and cronyism within Keir Starmer’s Labour Government, comes after the Prime Minister was heavily criticised for allowing another Labour donor, Lord Alli, a pass to 10 Downing Street. Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was also widely challenged for giving a man who previously donated £20,000 to Labour MPs a temporary role in the Treasury.
Chris Steward, Leader of the Conservative Group on York Council, said:
Luke Charters is the latest Labour MP to throw his morals down the toilet. Why on earth has he given a job in Parliament to a man who handed him almost £8,000?
Pensioners across York will be appalled at the hypocrisy as they lose their Winter Fuel Allowance while Luke Charters gives out jobs to those who have donated to the Labour Party.
Luke urgently needs to clarify whether Owen Trotter is being paid by the taxpayer in his role as Office Manager. We also need to know what process was followed in appointing him to this role, and whether the job was fully opened up to other candidates.
Meanwhile, Mr Trotter seems to still be a Managing Partner of an investment company which owns a range of private healthcare companies, as well as sitting on the governing body of the University of York: how is he managing to combine all these roles without any conflict of interest?
