The Greater Manchester MPs who got the most free football tickets and other gifts

Three Greater Manchester MPs feature on a list of the top 10 to accept gifts such as tickets for sports matches and other donations.

Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell came second in the Sky News list having declared £40,289 worth of gifts since December 2019. Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds was sixth with £17,905 declared in gifts while Stockport MP Navendu Mishra was ninth.

It comes as the Prime Minister comes under pressure for accepting more than £35,000 worth of free football tickets over the last Parliament, along with thousands more in free clothes and concert tickets. According to Sky News, Sir Keir Starmer has declared £107,145 worth of gifts, benefits and hospitality over the last five years - by far the highest amount of any MP during that period.

READ MORE: Free football tickets save taxpayer money on security, Keir Starmer says

The next highest on the list was Ms Powell, who is now the Leader of the House of Commons. The Manchester MP served as Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for nearly two years and received many of the gifts during that period.

However, since leaving that role, she has declared four gifts from Manchester City FC and two from The Football Association (FA) with the total value of tickets worth £2,440. Ms Powell has also accepted tickets for the Grand National and the British Grand Prix this year.

A spokesperson for Ms Powell said: “Lucy and her staff were invited to attend the vast majority of these events when she was the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, attending in an official capacity nearly always by and with the organisers of the event. Each donation has been declared transparently and in the usual way.”

Mr Reynolds, who is the Business Secretary, declared gifts with a total value of £17,905 since December 2019. In the last year, he has accepted free tickets for a Sheffield Wednesday match and the FA Cup final as well as a gift from a barrister who paid for his car hire.

A spokesperson for Jonathan Reynolds said: “As the Business Secretary, and in his previous role as Shadow Business Secretary, Jonathan is frequently asked to attend events in an official capacity to highlight the strength and depth of British industries. Each donation is rightly declared in the usual and proper way so that the public can scrutinise these activities."

Ministers are required to record donations or other support received separately with the relevant department. But shadow ministers - who are invited to some of the same events as ministers while they are in opposition - must declare gifts in the register of interests.

Mr Mishra, who is now the Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, was not in the shadow cabinet. But he still accepted the ninth highest value of gifts, according to Sky News.

Some of the donations he declared were paid directly to the Stockport Constituency Labour Party and were used for his general election campaign. Most of these donations came from trade unions, but in the last 12 months he has also declared two other gifts.

He declared a 'donation in kind' worth nearly £5,000 from The High Commission of India for the sponsorship of an event at the Labour conference last year. Mr Mishra also accepted two tickets to Wimbledon from a local business which were used by family members.

He said: "The top five sources of donations to my general election campaign were from Unite Union, Communication Workers Union, RMT Union, USDAW and ASLEF. These donations were made to Stockport Constituency Labour Party directly and not to me personally.

"I am a proud trade union and Labour Party member. Trade unions are the largest democratic movement in Britain, and I am proud to have had support from several trade unions during the recent general election campaign."