Keir Starmer has said he made a mistake in rubber-stamping the appointment of the first head of the new football regulator given both his own connections to football and the fact the successful candidate had donated money to him in the past.
Starmer expressed “sincere regret” to Laurie Magnus, his independent adviser on ministerial standards, regarding the appointment of David Kogan. It followed an apology to the prime minister by Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, who had also received a donation from Kogan.
In a letter to Magnus published by Downing Street on Wednesday, Starmer said the decision to appoint Kogan – a media executive whose career has included negotiating TV rights deals for the Premier League and the English Football League – as chair of the independent football regulator was, under law, a decision for Nandy.
Given his interest in football, and the hospitality he has received from football clubs and the Football Association, Starmer wrote, he agreed with Magnus in autumn last year to recuse himself from decisions relating to the new regulator, saying he had abided by this.
His letter read: “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.”
The letter set out how Kogan had donated to Starmer’s successful campaign to run for the Labour leadership in 2020, and had donated money to his constituency party.
In response, Magnus said it was “regrettable” that Starmer had been asked to rubber stamp the appointment, but that he welcomed a review into why this had happened.
Magnus went on: “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.”
Nandy’s apology came after a report by William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, found she failed to say that Kogan had donated to her Labour leadership campaign and to the party before she nominated him for the role.
Kogan was confirmed last month as the head of the Independent Football Regulator, a fan-friendly watchdog proposed by the Conservative government after plans for the briefly mooted European Super League collapsed, and brought into existence under Labour.
After the conflict of interest emerged, Nandy stood aside from any part in deciding whether he would be given the role.
