Trump Campaign Accuses Labour Part of ‘Blatant Foreign Interference’ in Presidential Election

British political volunteers often participate in U.S. election campaigns, with Labour activists typically backing the Democrats, while Conservatives support Republicans.

Donald Trump’s campaign has accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party of “blatant foreign interference” in the U.S. presidential election after some Labour volunteers traveled to support Kamala Harris’s campaign.

The Republican candidate’s team filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in Washington, calling for an investigation into what it described as potentially illegal contributions from Labour to Harris’s campaign.

British political volunteers often participate in U.S. election campaigns, with Labour activists typically backing the Democrats, while Conservatives support Republicans.

According to British officials, who spoke anonymously to Reuters, some senior Labour advisers recently met with Democrat strategists, following Labour’s landslide victory in the British election in July.

Their discussions included how Labour regained support in former industrialized areas that had turned away from the party in 2019.

Labour leader Starmer dismissed concerns that the complaint would harm relations with Trump if he wins the election on Nov. 5, stating that Labour supporters were volunteering on their own time.

However, the complaint presents a potential diplomatic complication.

Trump, who has close ties with British right-wing politician Nigel Farage and previously maintained good relations with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had praised Starmer during a meeting in September at Trump Tower.

Farage commented on X, saying, “This is direct election interference by the governing Labour Party, and particularly stupid if Trump wins. Who is paying for all of this?”

Under U.S. election rules, foreign nationals can volunteer on campaigns but cannot make financial contributions.

The FEC previously fined Bernie Sanders’s campaign after Australia’s Labour Party funded travel expenses for volunteers who supported his campaign.

The Trump complaint cited media reports and a now-deleted LinkedIn post from Sofia Patel, head of operations at Britain’s Labour Party, who claimed that nearly 100 Labour staff members would be traveling to the U.S. to help elect Harris.

The complaint stated, “I write on behalf of Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc. to request an immediate investigation into blatant foreign interference in the 2024 Presidential Election.” It added, “The interference is occurring in plain sight.”

In a press release titled “The British are coming,” the Trump campaign accused the “far-left Labour Party” of influencing “Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric.”

Starmer, while traveling to Samoa, told reporters that Labour volunteers have participated in nearly every U.S. election, saying, “They’re doing it in their spare time, they’re doing it as volunteers, they’re staying I think with other volunteers over there. That’s really straightforward.”