Outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer collected sport-related freebies worth tens of thousands of pounds during his two years in Downing Street.
Official figures declared in the register of accepted gifts and hospitality show the sport-mad leader accepted £33,000 worth of perks after his Labour Party’s landslide victory in 2024.
Arsenal provided by far the largest share of the hospitality, supplying Directors’ Box tickets worth £20,000 to the Prime Minister at £500 per ticket.
Starmer is a fan and season ticket holder at the Premier League champions, but it was deemed a security risk for him to remain in his usual seats while serving as Prime Minister.
It remains uncertain whether Starmer will return to his regular season ticket spots following the coronation of Andy Burnham as Labour leader on Monday.
Other football-related freebies, including Taylor Swift tickets provided by the Football Association, came to a combined total of £5,800.
These included EFL hospitality for the Carabao Cup final valued at £900 and two Directors’ Box tickets at Brighton and Hove Albion for £250.
Starmer also attended the Women’s Euros final, an Arsenal match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and received tickets from the Football Association of Ireland.
Neil Bailey, chief executive of Pitch Hospitality, told City AM: “Most of these are very high-end, money cannot buy tickets — the most premium experience and the best seats in the stadium.”
Bailey added: “Most people would not be able to access and if they could, ordinary folk would not be able to afford them.”
He also questioned whether the declared valuations accurately reflected the true cost of such premium experiences at the highest level of sport.
“Given the average hospitality prices in those stadiums and top end pricing for the best facilities, these estimates seem low,” Bailey said.
“A more realistic value would be a five-to-ten times multiple of the suggested prices,” he added, raising questions about the accuracy of official declarations.
Beyond football, Starmer accepted more than £8,000 in hospitality tickets and memberships spanning the Olympics and Paralympics, among other sports.
He also received an honorary membership from Ellesborough Golf Club worth £2,000 and horse racing tickets at Ascot and Doncaster valued at a combined £2,500.
A Government spokesperson defended the arrangements, saying: “The Government is committed to transparency. That’s why we updated the Ministerial Code in November 2024 to strengthen transparency requirements and set out clear principles governing the acceptance of gifts and hospitality.”
The spokesperson added: “It’s an important part of a minister’s role to represent the government and engage with civil society, businesses and institutions across the country.”