A Labour candidate runs a lobbying firm that represents the organisation battling Keir Starmer’s flagship private schools policy, the Observer can reveal.
Kevin Craig, Labour’s candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, is the founder and chief executive of lobbying firm Political Lobbying and Media Relations (PLMR).
One of its current clients is the Independent Schools Council (ISC), an industry trade body for private schools, which has been campaigning against Labour’s plans to charge VAT on school fees and end the sector’s discount on business rates.
The policy is estimated to raise £1.5bn, which the party says will help fund its plans for the state education sector, including the recruitment of 6,500 new teachers.
Since the policy was first announced, the ISC has been campaigning heavily in the press against the proposal, arguing that it would lead to an exodus of private school pupils into the state sector. The argument has since been used as an attack line on Labour by the Conservatives.
The lobbying firm promises on its website to help its clients reach “government departments in Whitehall, government arm-length bodies, or the UK parliament” and to deliver “valuable exposure” in the media for their messaging.
Craig told the Observer that he believed “strongly in Labour’s stance on education on being both pro-parent choice and pro-better standards for all children and I always have done”.
He added that PLMR “has given hundreds of thousands of pounds to charities over the years” and works on campaigns for major charities, including Cancer Research UK.
PLMR managing director Ollie Lane added that its work with education clients was not directly handled by Craig, and stressed that the firm was “a cross-party agency with members of staff affiliated to all major political parties and our consultants work with clients that align with their political positions”.
Craig is also a major donor to the Labour party – having given at least £228,000 to the party and its MPs either directly or through PLMR both before and since his selection, making him one of the party’s biggest private donors in the last few years.
The Observer understands Craig was chosen for his seat in a fast-track emergency selection process in February. He previously served as a councillor in Lambeth for more than a decade.
On Thursday, while announcing the party manifesto, Labour leader Keir Starmer reaffirmed the party’s plans to reform the tax status of private schools, and a Labour spokesperson told the Observer that any past affiliations of its candidates would not affect those policies.
“The next Labour government will break down the barriers to opportunity by investing in all of our state schools and recruiting over 6,500 new teachers through ending the tax breaks for private schools,” they said.
“The standard and quality of Labour candidates at this election has never been higher. Labour’s candidates include a record number of ex-military personnel, teachers, healthcare workers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs.
“As announced in our manifesto, Labour will support an immediate ban on MPs taking paid consultancy roles.”
