Sir Sadiq Khan has been cleared of wrongdoing in accepting six free tickets worth £3,000 to a Taylor Swift concert, The Standard can reveal.
The mayor and a number of unnamed family members watched the US pop superstar’s Eras tour from a VIP box on August 15 last year during her sell-out run of shows at Wembley Stadium.
The tickets were provided to Sir Sadiq by LS Events, a contractor to the Greater London Authority.
Susan Hall, leader of the City Hall Conservatives, complained to the GLA’s monitoring officer Rory McKenna that the tickets had been declared late on the City Hall register of gifts, had been undervalued, and had been provided by a contractor.
Mr McKenna decided that these three complaints did not justify further investigation – but did open a probe into whether the mayor had "exercised an appropriate level of caution” in accepting the tickets from LS Events.
Sir Sadiq was hosted by Steve Reynolds, the co-chief executive of LS Events.
The Standard has now learned that Sir Sadiq has been cleared of breaching the GLA’s code of conduct after Ms Hall’s complaint was examined by an independent investigator, barrister Matt Lewin.
The monitoring officer’s decision was published on the GLA’s website in June but only emerged in response to questions from The Standard on Monday.
The revelation came as Sir Sadiq hailed London as the “capital of live music” due to the number of mega gigs being hosted this summer.
The independent investigator concluded that the mayor did exercise an appropriate degree of caution and did not breach the code of conduct.
A GLA spokesperson said: “An independent investigation into a complaint against the mayor has concluded that the mayor did not breach the code of conduct and no further action will be taken.”
A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq said: “Any gift accepted by the mayor is declared openly and transparently.
“In this case there was an administrative error which was quickly corrected. The mayor has no involvement in the procurement process for GLA events, nor in the tendering of these contracts.”
Ms Hall told The Standard: "I am disappointed that the investigation has finished this way, but ultimately it'll be up to Londoners to decide whether or not the mayor acted appropriately in accepting free tickets from a firm that contracts with the GLA for tens of millions of pounds.
“This investigation has shone a spotlight on the relationship between the mayor and businesses contracted by the GLA.
“City Hall Conservatives will continue to scrutinise the office of the Mayor of London to ensure they exercise the highest standards of propriety in their actions."
Sir Sadiq and his aides were gifted a total of 22 tickets for various dates during Taylor Swift’s gigs at Wembley in June and August.
Of the 22 tickets, 10 of the recipients remain unknown. This is because they were either members of Sir Sadiq’s family or were junior City Hall staff, whose gifts declarations do not have to be made public.
The mayor apparently watched the gig from a private box with 10 other people.
Sir Sadiq, in a written submission to the investigation, said: "I have no personal involvement with or connection to GLA procurement decisions.
“I understand that LS Events was not involved in any open tender processes at the time at which the tickets were offered to and accepted by me."
Sir Sadiq declined to name the five other attendees, despite a request from Mr Lewin.
Mr Lewin did not interview the mayor as part of his investigation, after being satisfied with the answers he received from three mayoral aides, primarily Sir Sadiq’s mayoral director of operations, Ali Picton.
At the time, the Southport riots and a foiled terror attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna meant there was uncertainty about whether the August concerts would go ahead.
Ms Picton told the investigation that the mayor was a “very social person” and often attended events, but paid for his tickets whenever possible.
However, this was not feasible for the Eras tour, due to the scale of the demand to see Taylor Swift.
Ms Picton said the mayor “can’t just sneak into a Taylor Swift gig unannounced. There are security considerations, the etiquette of going to a major London venue.... It’s not realistic for the Mayor of London to do that and be assigned a random seat.”
She said she discussed with fellow mayoral directors on August 13 whether the mayor should attend the August 15 concert. According to Mr Lewin’s report, a decision to attend was made on August 14.
Ms Picton told Mr Lewin that she had mentioned to the mayor at an event on August 14 that he would be going to the concert the following evening.
She recalled telling Sir Sadiq: “We think it would be a good use of your time to be there, given you’ve been very vocal, you’ve been asked in the media about it.
“I said to him: ‘We’ve made enquiries. We’ve been offered tickets to a box.’ I probably would have said it was hosted by LS Events. ‘In principle, we’ve discussed it: do you want to go?’ He said yes.”
The investigation found that LS Events was awarded six out of seven City Hall contracts that it had bid for, including the Diwali in the Square event for 2024 and 2025, which it learned of on August 7, 2024 - the same day 10 free Taylor Swift tickets were offered to the GLA.
Mr Lewin said the six contracts were worth a total of £14m.
Separately, LS Events also carried out work on the Queen’s funeral procession.
Ms Picton told Mr Lewin that that the Football Association had approached Sir Sadiq with an offer of tickets for one Taylor Swift’s June concerts.
However, he was unable to accept as he had already purchased tickets (in a private capacity from his own funds) for another concert on the same date.
In January this year, as the controversy showed no sign of abating, Sir Sadiq defended his attendance at the concert as “work”, saying in a written answer to Tory assembly member Emma Best: “I work tirelessly to bang the drum for London and act as a champion of the capital's creative and sporting sectors.
“Events like this – just like when I attend major sporting events, community events like Notting Hill Carnival and cultural events like London Fashion Week – help the GLA promote London in order to generate investment in our economy and engage with key decision makers for the good of our city.”
Speaking to The Standard in January, Sir Sadiq insisted he always followed the rules on declaring girts - and said he had played no role in the awarding of any contracts, whether to LS Events or other firms.
He said: “The Conservatives have made various complaints to the monitoring officer about me – I think three-quarters have been kicked out in the first instance, and have not even been worthy of investigation.
“I’m quite clear: I’m somebody who follows the rules, makes declarations. As somebody who is unashamedly pro-London I will not hesitate to bang the drum for our city.
“I’m not in charge of procurement decisions for obvious reasons. It’s really important that those who are in charge of procurement decisions follow the rules as well.”
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