Sir Keir Starmer paid to keep a necklace he received from Donald Trump during the US president’s state visit, it has emerged, but did not fork out for a football shirt gifted by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger earlier this year.
Details released by the Cabinet Office on Thursday show that the prime minister was given the personalised necklace, along with cufflinks and a golf club, by the president, while his wife was given a pair of cowboy boots.
Ministers must declare any gift they receive worth more than £140, and either hand it to their department or pay the difference between that amount and the item’s value if they wish to keep it.
No 10 could not immediately say on Friday how much Sir Keir had paid for the gift, but the necklace was the only item he chose to keep, with the other gifts being held by Downing Street.
Asked on Friday how much the PM had paid for the jewellery, a spokesperson for the prime minister said: “As with all gifts, we publish them transparently, and if they were held by the department or purchased by the minister.”
No details were available about how the necklace was personalised, and when asked why the prime minister had felt that he wanted to pay for this gift, the spokesperson pointed to the rules as set out in the ministerial code around gifts and hospitality.
But it has also emerged that Sir Keir declined to purchase a replica trophy, a football shirt and a football gifted by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger in April, despite being a keen supporter of the north London club.
Sir Keir, like other prime ministers, has generally declined to purchase gifts from world leaders, including previous items given to him by Mr Trump.
The PM and Lady Starmer hosted Mr Trump and his wife Melania at Chequers, the prime minister’s country retreat, in September following the president’s stay with the King and Queen at Windsor Castle.
They presented the president with a ministerial red box and gave the first lady a silk scarf.
In July, during the president’s visit to Scotland, Sir Keir was given a bottle of special edition whisky, while during a trip to Washington in February he was given a framed football shirt by Mr Trump. Both items were retained by Downing Street.
In September, Sir Keir was given a rugby league shirt, leather boots and beer by Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, clothes by publisher Conde Nast, and a wooden carving by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, none of which he paid to keep.
Details of ministers’ gifts and hospitality are released regularly by the government.
In July, Uefa and the Football Association offered the PM and a guest a ticket including food and drinks to the final of the Women’s Euros.
Earlier this year, the PM purchased a hamper he had received from Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, but he did not buy the bottle of rum he was given by the prime minister of Barbados Mia Mottley, or the decorative marble plate from India’s PM Narendra Modi.
