London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 09, 2025

Rayner urges Tories to repay £580k of public funds spent on polling

Rayner urges Tories to repay £580k of public funds spent on polling

Labour says rules broken over contract that examined attitudes towards Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan
Labour is calling on the Conservative party to pay back £580,000 of taxpayers’ money spent by the government on polling, including testing public attitudes to Keir Starmer, at the height of the Covid crisis.

Angela Rayner has written to the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, urging him to investigate the contract, which was awarded after the personal intervention of Boris Johnson’s then chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.

Rayner said: “Conservative ministers have abused taxpayers’ money for their own party political interests and the Conservative party needs to repay this money immediately.

“Taxpayers’ money is not the personal cashpoint of Tory ministers to do as they please with. We need a fully independent inquiry into how much taxpayers’ money has been abused in this way and which rules were broken by the ministers and special advisers who authorised it.”

Cummings phoned his former Vote Leave colleague Paul Stephenson, who also worked on the Tories’ 2019 general election campaign, to ask if Stephenson’s company, Hanbury Strategy, could carry out the work in March last year.

As part of the polling contract, the company examined public attitudes to Starmer and London mayor Sadiq Khan.

One proposal under discussion at the time was to hold joint press conferences with Johnson and Starmer, against the backdrop of concerns about compliance with lockdown, in particular among members of the public who mistrusted the Conservatives.

The plan was rejected by Downing Street before it had even been mooted with Starmer’s team, but Labour argues that by testing the public’s attitude to the Labour leader and Khan, Hanbury was carrying out political work, which should never have been funded with taxpayers’ money.

Hanbury had previously been brought in to sift potential candidates to be special advisers in Johnson’s government.

Rayner has called on Case to investigate whether Johnson or cabinet office minister Michael Gove, the former chair of Vote Leave, were involved in awarding the contract – and whether other sums of public money were spent on political activities.

The contract with Hanbury, to conduct opinion polls on the public’s view of the government’s Covid response, is subject to a legal challenge by the Good Law Project (GLP), which argues that it shows “apparent bias”.

Documents made public at a court hearing last Friday included an email sent on 20 March 2020, in which Cummings asked the most senior civil servant responsible for contracts to sign off the budget immediately, and that if “anybody in CABOFF [the Cabinet Office] whines”, to tell them Cummings had “ordered it” from the prime minister.

The Cabinet Office, which is defending the GLP’s challenge, has insisted it acted lawfully, and that the polling was used to shape public health messaging at a critical time in the pandemic.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “We do not carry out party political polling.” They added that an independent review of cabinet office procurement had already been carried out last December by Nigel Boardman.

A Hanbury spokesperson said the company agreed to do the work “at extremely short notice” although it involved reputational risk.

They said: “Our work contributed to what was a hugely successful public health communications campaign which undoubtedly prevented many deaths. For that reason, if we had to make the choice again we would still agree to step up and help in this time of crisis.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×