A Labour-linked lobbying firm that has paid to sponsor the party’s conference has been given access to a briefing on Sir Keir Starmer’s crunch keynote speech, The i Paper can reveal.
The briefing for MPs and peers will be hosted on Monday in a hub sponsored by Anacta, which markets itself as a “Labour-specialist” agency providing “political intelligence” for organisations that want to understand the Government.
Its current clients include the Israeli-owned arms firm Pearson Engineering, Sky, trade associations for airlines and amusements, and others ranging across the green industry, transport and tech.
The firm is run by Teddy Ryan, the husband of Labour general secretary and Starmer ally Hollie Ridley, who himself worked in senior roles in the party for 14 years.
Public affairs firms such as Anacta both lobby the Government to influence its decisions, and attempt to gather intelligence on policy direction to inform how their clients do business.
When asked by The i Paper if Anacta staff and clients would be present at the briefing of the PM’s speech, neither Anacta or Labour could rule it out. But it is understood that none of the company’s staff will speak at the event.
No one has full access to Starmer’s speech, which he will give on Tuesday, outside of the Prime Minister’s team, it is understood.
An invitation to MPs for the event, leaked to The i Paper, says it will be an opportunity “to be briefed on what we can expect to hear from the Prime Minister in his keynote speech to Conference”, as well as a drinks reception.
Experts and industry insiders claimed Labour’s decision to use the Anacta Hub – the area sponsored by the firm – to brief parliamentarians on the Prime Minister’s conference speech is unusual and could lead to paying clients having “privileged access” to Government information, which may include policy announcements that affect the markets.
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations said the arrangements used by Labour and Anacta “blur the lines between influence and access” and create “two-tier democracy” with influence peddled in “shadowy corners”, while calling for a change in lobbying rules.
One industry insider said: “Have the Labour Party learned nothing from the recent lobbying scandals?
“Hosting an MPs briefing of the PM’s speech with a lobbying outfit which is owned by someone married to the Labour Party general secretary is stupid beyond belief and opens them up to all kinds of accusations around cronyism.”
Hollie Ridley, who the party has named as its Labour last September (The Labour Party/PA Wire) and her husband Teddy Ryan, Managing Director of AnactaQuestions were also being raised over whether the briefing would be helmed by a Cabinet minister or top member of the PM’s No 10 team, potentially giving a lobbying company access to senior Government figures when it has paid to sponsor the area that will host the event at the conference.
Critics also said it undermines Labour’s promises to clean up politics, crack down on lobbying and move the country on from sleaze scandals which dogged the Conservatives in office.
The Government has previously faced questions over “cash for access” after The Times revealed that businesses were offered private meetings with “an influential Labour figure” if they sponsored events at a cost of nearly £9,500.
Starmer and Cabinet ministers including Rachel Reeves have also been criticised for taking so-called “freebies” for events since Labour won the election, with The i Paper revealing in March that the Chancellor accepted free corporate tickets to see Sabrina Carpenter perform at the O2 arena.
Lobbying firms can pay thousands to sponsor areas
Slots to sponsor typical events at Labour’s party conference are believed to cost firms at least £10,000 and can often rise to around £18,000, The i Paper has been told.
Lobbying companies often pay tens of thousands of pounds to sponsor their own area at the conference.
But the arrangement used by Anacta and Labour is not formally considered “sponsorship” for the purposes of electoral law due to a controversial arrangement being used by both parties.
It is instead classed as a “commercial partnership” because any money given to the party is not directly used to meet its expenses. Unlike donations or sponsorship payments that have to be declared, commercial deals do not – an arrangement critics have described as a “loophole”.
The insider said on the use of commercial partnerships: “I’ve never know anyone to host something themselves in their own space they have paid for and call it a commercial partnership. It’s sponsorship. Anything else is trying to circumnavigate the rules and you have to ask why.”
A second industry insider said a briefing for MPs and peers was likely to be led by a senior figure like a Cabinet minister, such as chief secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones, or a very senior staff member from No 10.
“It smells weird,” the insider added. “You are almost certainly going to have intelligence about the PM’s speech, quite a long way before it’s delivered, shared with paying clients.
“They [Anacta] wouldn’t really be doing their jobs if they didn’t pass it on, otherwise you would beg the question of why you have decided to use your hub for that if you are not going to get something in return.”
They went on: “I don’t think his speech is going to contain huge amounts of market-moving stuff, but it could.
“There could be something in there on, for example, planning, which could be very significant to certain firms and you wake up the next morning and have a few hours to react in advance, which is always useful.
“There may be stuff they say in that briefing that they don’t give to [the media] in advance, there might be stuff that is more sensitive that you might get a leg up on if you’d employed that company [Anacta].”
‘Britain’s lobbying rules are weak’
Alastair McCapra, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, said: “With the current Lobbying Act riddled with loopholes, cases like this only reinforce the urgent need for a robust, watertight lobbying code that leaves no technicalities to exploit. Only then can UK governments deliver the transparency that both the public and responsible lobbyists demand and deserve.
“These kinds of opaque arrangements blur the lines between influence and access. They create a two-tiered democracy: one for those with quiet connections behind closed doors, and another for everyone else left outside the room. As it stands, public trust is being eroded by rules that are simply not fit for purpose. Each episode like this deepens the perception of a hidden hand with influence wielded in shadowy corners.”
Peter Geoghegan, journalist and author of Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics told The i Paper: “Britain’s lobbying rules are so weak that they only capture an estimated 4 per cent of all lobbying activity. In opposition, Labour often promised to end the cosy relationship between politicians and lobbyists. But in office, Labour has done precious little.
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“Indeed, we have seen a rise of lobbying firms with Labour connections. This latest example of cash-for-access shows, once again, that lobbyists – and their clients – can get privileged access to senior Government figures, including on something as potentially crucial as the Prime Minister’s conference speech”
A Labour Party spokesman said: “A wide range of events are taking place throughout annual conference, some of which, as is typical at party conferences, are supported by commercial partners.
“Commercial partnerships at events are a longstanding practice and have no bearing on Party or government policy.
“We comply with all rules with these arrangements.”
An Anacta spokesman said: “Anacta are proud to be hosting a range of interesting events, with a broad and varied range of partners.”
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