North East Mayor publishes gifts register
The North East mayor has now published details of gifts she has received since her election.
Kim McGuinness faced criticism from opponents earlier this week, after the Local Democracy Reporting Service highlighted how she was yet to declare any donations or financial interests since becoming mayor in May.
The North East Combined Authority (NECA) was accused of a “deeply worrying” lack of transparency, amid a series of rows surrounding senior figures in the new Labour government accepting designer clothes, Taylor Swift tickets and other gifts.
NECA has now published a list of all gifts accepted by Ms McGuinness between her election in May and the end of September, including private dinners with major employers Hitachi and Nissan and a hotel stay before the Great North Run.
The total value of the gifts accepted by the Labour mayor is £1,050, with the most expensive being a pair of tickets to the Edinburgh Tattoo.
The register also lists a number of declined offers – including an invitation from Channel 4 to a Paralympic Games Garden Party in Paris.
She also turned down football tickets offered by Sunderland AFC, Newcastle United shirt sponsor Sela, and Newcastle Airport, as well as hospitality packages at an England rugby match at Twickenham and England’s one-day cricket international against Australia at Chester-le-Street.
The full list of the mayor’s accepted gifts from May to September 2024 is:
• A cake delivered without prior notice, addressed to the mayor. Donor: Capital & Centric LTD. Value: £50. Date: May 6 2024.
• Private dinner with other UK Mayors. Donor: Aviva Investors. Value: £50. Date: 20 May 2024.
• Private dinner. Donor: Hitachi. Value: £50. Date: June 5 2024.
• Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. Donor: Chamber Business Awards. Value: £100. Date: June 27 2024.
• BBC Proms concert in Gateshead and reception. Donor: BBC Proms Concert – The Glasshouse. Value: £50. Date: July 26 2024.
• Edinburgh Tattoo Ceremony and evening meal. Donor: Edinburgh Tattoo. Value: £300. Date: August 19 2024.
• “If U Care Share” shirt. Donor: If U Care Share. Value: £50. Date: August 30 2024.
• Great North Run Dinner. Donor: Great North Run Company. Value: £150. Date: September 7 2024.
• Accommodation at Hilton Hotel, Gateshead, before Great North Run. Donor: Great North Run Company. Value: £200. Date: September 7 2024.
• Private dinner at Labour Party Conference. Donor: Nissan. Value: £50. Date: September 24 2024.
NECA said earlier this week that the register of gifts and hospitality would be made available as part of a “planned update” to its website.
A spokesperson added that NECA “firmly believe in openness and transparency” and would be updating the gifts register quarterly.
Earlier this week, Sunderland Tory councillor Dominic McDonough said the lack of information on the mayor’s financial interests five months after her election was “deeply worrying”.
Greg Stone, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Newcastle, had called for “urgent” action “to ensure full transparency is put in place”.