Who is Lord Waheed Alli? The Labour donor embroiled in Starmer gifts row

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In a row dubbed “passes for glasses”, it has emerged that Lord Alli had gifted the Sir Keir eyewear and work clothing worth £18,000, clothes for his wife Lady Victoria Starmer, and a £10,000 donation to the PM’s chief of staff Sue Gray’s son Liam Conlon’s campaign to become a Labour MP. “The thing was, Waheed didn’t really know what he was doing there, so he handed it back.” Lord Alli is reported to have a fortune of around £200m People involved in Labour’s election campaign told the outlet that Lord Alli not only helped fund it but also took on a managerial role with staff, often helping to smooth over the kind of tensions that can hamper an intense election drive. Lord Alli’s upbringing Described as a person “who get things done”, Lord Alli was born in south London to a Trinidadian mother, who worked as a nurse, and Guyanese father, who was a mechanic. Lord Alli was nominated to advise on presenting the UK’s “Cool Britannia” image Lord Alli, who has said his “heart and soul” are devoted to Labour, told the Financial Times in 2011 that his politics were “the politics of sexuality, or equality,” and was reportedly introduced to the party by his neighbour, Labour MP Emily Thornberry.