Mayor defends free Taylor Swift and match tickets

A mayor has defended accepting free tickets to concerts and football matches, arguing the events were opportunities to rub shoulders with people who might invest in his region.

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said he had been given tickets to see Taylor Swift at Anfield in June, and to watch Liverpool FC play 10 times.

Mr Rotheram said if he could meet people who would help "get foreign direct investment increased" by meeting them at gigs and matches, then it was justified.

His comments came after the issue of gifts and hospitality for politicians was brought back into sharp focus by the revelations Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had received up to £6,000 worth of clothes from Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli.

Local Green Party Leader Tom Crone then called for MPs and senior politicians who accepted donations to give equivalent sums to charitable causes.

Speaking on BBC Radio Merseyside, Mr Rotheram said: "If we are to get foreign direct investment increased - and I have committed to doing that by 25% over the next four years - then we need to meet people where they are.

"So if they are at a Taylor Swift show, then we need to do that."

Mr Rotheram accepted he would "get stick" for taking the tickets but he said the critics were "the same people who say, 'How come we are behind London and how come we are behind Manchester?'

"It's because they go out and sell their area, and that’s what we need to do."

Three of Mr Rotheram's football match tickets since September 2023 came from housebuilder Sovini, and others came from the club, the Premier League and the English Football League.

Mr Rotheram has said he declared "absolutely everything".

Mr Rotheram's comments about the benefits of going to the events echoed those of Liverpool Riverside's Labour MP Kim Johnson, who - along with the now independent West Derby MP Ian Byrne and Walton MP Dan Carden - also received tickets to see Taylor Swift at Anfield.

She said the concert and for the Grand National - for which she also received tickets - were "networking events" that could "benefit [her] constituency going forward".

Sir Keir Starmer has said he will cover the cost of gifts and hospitality received, including six Taylor Swift tickets, four tickets to the races, and a rental agreement with a designer of whose clothes his wife, Lady Starmer, is a fan.

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