Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor, has been found to have inadvertently breached parliamentary regulations by failing to meet the deadline for registering gifts, the parliamentary standards watchdog has determined.
In April, Reeves referred herself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after missing the 28-day deadline to declare tickets gifted to her by the National Theatre in the register of MPs’ interests.
In a letter to Daniel Greenberg, the commissioner, Reeves stated that “due to an oversight,” she had initially only registered the donation in the registry for ministers and not for Members of Parliament.
The commissioner acknowledged Reeves’ apology for the delayed registration and indicated that he would be concluding his inquiry.
The investigation was related to two donations from the National Theatre in central London.
The first donation consisted of two tickets to a performance and a dinner in March 2024, with a total value of £265. The second donation comprised four tickets to a performance in December 2024, valued at £276.
Members of Parliament are required to declare any gifts or benefits exceeding £300 within 28 days of receipt.
Ministers who receive gifts exceeding £140 in their official capacity must register the donation in the register of ministers’ interests.
Reeves registered the tickets from the National Theatre in the MPs’ register on March 27, 2025.
Reeves explained to the commissioner that “the oversight which led to the late entry relates to the ambiguity around accepting hospitality which is neither clearly in my ministerial capacity nor my capacity as a Member of Parliament.”
“In general, it is likely that my ministerial position means I am offered hospitality of this kind more frequently, and in this case, as you know, my team and I initially declared the hospitality on my ministerial register only,” she stated.
“In order to be maximally transparent, I subsequently took the view that it would be better to consistently record the hospitality on both registers.”
In his response, Greenberg stated that he believed Reeves had breached rule five of the MPs’ code of conduct.
“It should have been clear to you that the gift related to your membership of the House or political activities, and it should have been registered within the 28-day time limit set by the House,” he stated.
“This has been a difficult decision,” he wrote, adding, “I have concluded on balance that your failure was inadvertent, although greater attention to the rules could and should have avoided it.”
Reeves responded to Greenberg, stating that she accepted his decision and reiterated her apology for the breach.
She added that she had implemented “more regular communication” between her Parliament and Treasury teams “to ensure information on gifts and hospitality is shared in a timely manner.”
She stated that she would seek “more thorough advice” from Treasury officials regarding ministerial gifts but added, “I am also not intending to accept further tickets of this kind going forward.”
Last summer, Reeves, along with the Prime Minister, was involved in a controversy regarding accepting free items, ranging from clothing to concert tickets.
Earlier this year, she defended her acceptance of free tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert at London’s O2 arena, stating, “I do now have security, which means it’s not as easy as it would have been in the past to just sit in a concert.”
A few days later, she told ITV that she faced a “balancing act in my job to try and be a good parent” alongside security requirements.
She added, “I felt I was doing the right thing, but I do understand perceptions. I recognise the feeling here. I have no intention of doing that again.”