AN astonishing “new aristocracy” of couples, relatives and nepo-babies runs the Government.
More than two dozen ministers including Rachel Reeves, Pat McFadden and Wes Streeting all have spouses or relatives on the taxpayer or Labour Party payroll, analysis shows.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Government is littered with husband and wife politicians, sisters in top roles and the offspring of Labour powerbrokers.
Seven members of the Cabinet, including the Defence and Business Secretary, are related to either another minister, a Labour-appointed special adviser or a civil servant.
The Government finally published their first set of transparency returns yesterday outlining any potential conflicts of interest around the Cabinet table and across Whitehall.
And it showed an unprecedented 28 ministers are related to each other, married to other Labour politicians or have their partner also on the public purse.
Under Rishi Sunak’s Tories, that figure was 11.
Chancellor Ms Reeves’ husband is a powerful Whitehall mandarin, while Cabinet Office boss Pat McFadden’s wife was appointed by Sir Keir as a political aide.
Ms Reeves’ MP sister Ellie now attends Cabinet, while Ellie’s husband John Cryer is a Labour minister in the House of Lords.
Health Secretary Mr Streeting’s partner is paid by Labour as a spin doctor, while minister Georgia Gould’s husband is an adviser to Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall.
Ms Gould is considered Labour royalty, as her father Philip was the architect of New Labour and her mother serves as a Labour peer.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander’s husband is a senior figure at media regulator Ofcom.
The lower ranks are also heaving with ministers whose partners and family also serve Labour or the taxpayer.
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer’s father is a Labour peer, while fellow minister Baroness Chapman’s husband Nick Smith is a Labour MP.
The Eagle sisters, Angela and Maria, serve Home Office and Defence Ministers respectively.
Meanwhile, Treasury Minister Lord Livermore’s partner Seb Dance is London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s deputy.
Fellow peer Baroness Smith, who serves as Advocate General of Scotland, is the youngest daughter of the former Labour leader John Smith and her mother is also a Labour peer.
And Baroness Blake, who is a whip in the House of Lords, has a daughter, Olivia, who was elected as a Labour MP in July.
Housing minister Alex Norris’s wife Emma Foody was elected for Labour in July.
And fellow newbie MP Imogen Walker — the Chancellor’s Commons aide — is married to Sir Keir’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney.
He ousted former Chief of Staff Sue Gray, whose son Liam Conlon was elected to Parliament this year as a Labour member.
Last night Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart said: “Here’s Labour’s new aristocracy laid bare — it’s all who you know or are related to.”
A Labour insider said: “People tend to get into Labour politics quite young, and then spend their time hanging out with their Labour comrades so often that it makes sense to marry one.
“For others, the parental or spouse connections can help them get a foot in the door or a leap up the ladder.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “To rebuild Britain and deliver the change our country needs will require talent, expertise and creativity. We won’t hesitate to make sure the right people are around the table.”
By Harry Cole
CAN you imagine the howls of fury from Labour if those evil Tories had hired their mothers, brothers, lovers and come-all-ye-others into plum roles in the Government?
It’s remarkable just how much of Sir Keir Starmer’s frontbench seems to be related to, married to, or descended from another Labour figure of note.
And it’s fascinating how many Labour households are getting a double-dipping from the public purse as a result.
They insist that it’s the best man or woman that has got the job but does that really pass the sniff test?
Can they really say that every single member of this so-called “new aristocracy” got where they are on merit alone?
