Starmer turns to City ‘conduit’

SIR KEIR STARMER has enlisted one of the most well connected men in the City of London to broker a meeting of FTSE 100 chief executives ahead of next year’s general election.

Sir Keir has “partnered” with Sir Alan Parker, the founder of PR firm Brunswick, to host a summit with company chiefs next month as the Labour leader courts business.

Brunswick has approached the chief executives of clients including Barclays, Rolls-royce and Aviva about a meeting with Sir Keir covering topics including “growth, the transition to net zero and capture the benefit of new technologies”, reported the Mail on Sunday.

Sir Keir has turned to Brunswick to take advantage of Sir Alan’s deep connections within both business and politics, described as “a great conduit between the City and Whitehall”.

The letter to FTSE chiefs, signed by Sir Keir, states: “We are partnering with Brunswick Group on this work and with Sir Alan Parker.”

The Labour Party is understood not to have a commercial relationship with Brunswick. A source close to Brun- swick said it does not take money from political parties and said the invitations were sent out on behalf of the Labour Party, rather than by the business itself.

The December meeting comes as Sir Keir seeks to rebuild Labour’s relationship with businesses.

Sir Keir’s shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, last week told The Daily Telegraph she wanted to “invest in growth potential recognising that lack of growth is the primary driver of high taxes and increasing debt”. The party and Brunswick declined to comment.