Mayor faces probe over Taylor Swift tickets

Sadiq Khan received six Taylor Swift tickets worth about £3,000

The Conservatives have called for an investigation into Sadiq Khan’s receipt of free tickets to watch Taylor Swift.

It comes after BBC London revealed his declaration on the official City Hall register was incorrect and late.

The Tories have asked the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) monitoring officer to probe a potential breach of the rules.

A spokesperson for London's mayor said: “Any gift accepted by the mayor is declared openly and transparently. In this case there was an administrative error. This has been corrected.”

Taylor Swift played eight concerts at Wembley this summer

Khan received six tickets worth about £3,000 from a private events company to watch the star from a box at Wembley Stadium on 15 August.

There were five other members of City Hall staff with him, including two senior officials.

He has not yet explained why he declared the gift late - 10 days after the 28-day deadline set out in the GLA code.

But he has claimed that “human error” meant that he originally said the tickets were worth £1,164, about a third of their actual value.

One of his officials had mistakenly entered tickets that he had been offered – but did not accept – to an earlier concert in June, City Hall said.

'Clarify the rules'

In her letter to the monitoring officer, Tory Assembly member Susan Hall claims the mayor had appeared to “contravene” the gifts and hospitality procedure.

She said that there were potential issues raised by the mayor receiving hospitality and being hosted in the box by a private company LS Events which has worked for City Hall.

The Tories have asked whether there was any reason a technical fault could have “legitimately prevented a timely declaration” of the tickets, and why changes were subsequently made on the register.

The monitoring officer has also been asked to clarify the rules about accepting gifts and hospitality from contractors and external suppliers who have had contracts with the GLA.

According to the Standard, City Hall staff received 22 tickets to Taylor Swift’s Wembley concerts. They include three people – as yet unnamed – who have now left.

The mayor’s latest declaration is for a free ticket to watch Liverpool FC play at home on 21 September, just hours before he and the prime minister attended the London reception at Labour party conference.