Inside Lord Alli's long donation 'love affair' with Labour

At Labour conference this week, there was one attendee the press were looking out for more than any other - Lord Alli.

The peer, who reportedly hates publicity, strode into the Liverpool venue in his white trainers and dark suit with a cheeky grin on his face, after weeks of headlines over 'donorgate'.

Alli has found himself the unwelcome centre of attention over his gifts to members of the cabinet, which raised eyebrows after he was given a Downing Street pass - sparking claims of 'cash for access' at the heart of government.

He gave clothes and spectacles to Keir Starmer and his wife, loaned his luxury Manhattan apartment on New Year's Eve to Angela Rayner and bankrolled Bridget Phillipson's 40th birthday party.

And last night yet another £16,000 donation worth of clothes to Keir Starmer emerged. 

But the wealthy businessman, who is worth an estimated £200 million, has a long history with Labour and has been financing it for 25 years, with his donations of late totalling more than £700,000.

Here MailOnline takes a look at Lord Alli and his long love affair with Labour. 

When Waheed Alli was young he was an unlikely candidate to someday become a multimillionaire, with his school careers officer suggesting he become a bus conductor.

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But instead Alli, 59, managed to quickly start to build his fortune in the 1980s, earning a £1,000 a day as a financial consultant in the era of Thatcherite yuppiedom.

Then in 1992, when he teamed up with Bob Geldof and Charlie Parsons to launch TV production company Planet 24.

It produced several hits, including, The Word, Survivor and The Big Breakfast, leading one newspaper to comment Alli was the person who 'perfected TV presented by morons for morons'.

Alli made yet more millions from property, online retail and media rights.

But his connection to the Labour Party has always been strong, and he talks fondly about his moderate roots and helping battle the party's always-troublesome Militant wing in the 1980s.

In the 1990s he was encouraged by his East End neighbour Emily Thornberry, who lived in the same street, to take a greater role in the party.

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When Tony Blair was leader, he would ring Alli for advice on 'yoof appeal' and Peter Mandelson would use his Kent mansion to plot campaigns. 

In 1998 Alli, at the age of 34, became the youngest and the first openly gay peer in Parliament.

The ennoblement enabled him to lead the charge against Section 28 in the Upper House.

But since then his attendance has been sporadic, and he's given barely a dozen speeches in the past decade. 

Instead Alli prefers to operate behind the scenes by keeping the money taps flowing. Although under Jeremy Corbyn the flow became little more than a trickle.

But he was usually near those at the top of the party, and in 2000 was pictured arriving at the wedding of Gordon Brown and Sarah Macaulay.

Usually Alli's wealth is lavished on his friends and contacts, with his former staff getting birthday cards and Christmas gifts, Prada bags and Paul Smith shirts, according to The Spectator.

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His parties are also the stuff of legend, with guests talking of the annual bash at his Kent mansion having a Ferris wheel, dodgems and hot air balloon over the years. 

Perhaps due to the splendid parties, Alli also has a bulging contacts book which allows him to play a lead role in tapping up other wealthy people for donations.

He was the chair of Labour's election fundraising, he used his £18 million London penthouse to host weekly meetings to plot donation drives.

The penthouse has recently been in the headlines after it was used by Keir Starmer to record two video clips, one telling Britain to work from home in the pandemic and another paying a tribute to the late Queen.

The former, from December 2021, saw him sitting at a desk with a family picture on the shelves behind him, creating the impression he was at his home and leading to accusations he tried to 'hoodwink' the public.

Starmer also came under fire for his seven-week stay there which the PM said was to allow his son to study for his GCSEs 'in peace'. 

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The use of the penthouse to film the two clips was not recorded in the MPs' register of interests as Downing Street said it fell below the £300 value threshold for declaring gifts. The stay with his family was, valued at £20,437.28 – around £450 a night. 

On election night in 2024, Starmer watched the exit poll from Alli's penthouse.   

On Monday, Labour hosted its biggest-ever business event at its conference. Alli helped co-ordinate donors as more than 500 lobbyists and executives shelled out £3,000 a ticket to mingle with ministers and swell party coffers.

The event was a key part in keeping with Labour's strategy of keeping business onside over plans to give workers more rights while growing the economy.

It is difficult to overstate Alli's importance to Labour, but friends have tried to play down the influence he has on the party.

One friend told The Spectator: 'He's had his seat in the Lords since 1998. What more could he want?'

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But the 'donorgate' row has gone down like a bucket of cold sick with the public, and opinion polls show widespread disgust.

Various excuses have been mounted by the party this week in defence of Alli's donations. 

Health Secretary Wes Streeting declared: 'It is a noble pursuit, just like giving to charity – and we don't recognise that enough.' 

Alli once threw a £4,600 fundraising party for Streeting that was attended by actors Sir Ian McKellen and Michael Cashman.

Labour insist all of the donations were declared in 'accordance with Parliamentary and Electoral Commission rules'. 

But despite the public outcry, Lord Alli and his millions will be part of Labour's story for as long as he is needed.