One of Cornwall’s new Labour MPs has explained why she received £27,500 in donations from trade unions in the run up to the election and how the money was spent.

This week the Daily Mail ran a front page article titled ‘Half of Labour MPs in pay of unions’, along with two pages inside, reporting a list of Labour MPs said to have received payments from unions “since the election was called” – something disputed by Cornwall’s MP named on the list.

Included was Jayne Kirkham, Labour’s newly elected MP for Truro and Falmouth, and until recently a Falmouth town and Cornwall councillor.

According to the Mail, Ms Kirkham received a total of £27,500 from the following unions:

UNISON (campaign): £12,000
Unite the Union: £10,000
CWU (Communication Workers Union): £2,500
GMB (General and Municipal Workers' Union): £2,000
CWU: £1,000

The newspaper cites the figures as coming from the MP Register of Interests, which was published on Friday – the first time since July’s General Election.

It said the figures showed 213 MPs received a combined £1.8 million in donations to help them fight the election.

Conservatives have been quick to throw shade at Labour over the payments to its members, with former Home Secretary James Cleverly claiming it showed “the Labour Party is under the thumb of its union paymasters.”

Now Ms Kirkham has explained to the Packet what her money was spent on – and also clarified that the donations actually came over a 12-month period before the election, rather than the six weeks between it being called by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on May 22 and voting taking place on July 4.

Ms Kirkham has explained how the donations were spent in the run up to the electionMs Kirkham has explained how the donations were spent in the run up to the election (Image: Official parliamentary portrait under Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0))

Ms Kirkham told the Packet: “I was selected to stand for Truro and Falmouth over two years ago. The donations to my election campaign set out in my Register of Interests were the ones received in the 12 months before the election - not six weeks as it said in the Mail.

“They paid for things like rent of our constituency Labour Party office in Truro, leaflets, digital, and we had one paid organiser who worked with me in the months leading up to the election alongside the dozens of volunteers who gave their time for free to get a Labour government, because they wanted change for this country.”

She went on to explain that she previously worked as a solicitor acting for working people 20 years ago, and was the trade union workplace representative when she worked in a school as a teaching assistant.

“The Labour Party was set up to be the voice of working people and the vulnerable in Parliament.

“The trade unions who contributed to my campaign are made up of over two million working people across the country.

“UNISON are teaching assistants - like I was - other school staff, health workers, care workers and many other professions. Unite are our local government workers, refuse collectors, transport workers and so many others," she added. 

“My job is to represent everyone in Truro and Falmouth in Parliament and I will do that to the absolute best of my ability.

“I am proud that so many working people put their faith in the Labour Party and myself to make the change that we need so badly here in Cornwall.”