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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Mikey Smith

Schmoozing MPs trouser £20,000 freebie bonanza of concert and sport tickets

Schmoozing MPs avoided the cost of living crisis this summer by accepting almost £20,000 worth of free tickets to concerts and sporting events.

In the space of a month, eight MPs declared they’d been gifted concert and festival tickets valued at more than £10,000.

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi - who was briefly in the race to succeed Boris Johnson as PM - declared four VIP tickets to see Adele on 2 July, worth £1,302.

Labour leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves also declared tickets to the Rolling in the Deep songstress’ Hyde Park concert the night before.

Ms Reeves declared two tickets worth £699, while Mr Starmer’s were a relative bargain - £479 for four.

Meanwhile, Tory MP Jason McCartney is apparently more of a fan of US pop-punk icons Green Day, and declared two free VIP tickets to see them in Huddersfield, worth £300 each.

And Labour's Alex Sobel declared a ticket to see the Rolling Stones, worth £349.

Keir Starmer enjoyed hospitality in the Royal Box at Wimbledon (Getty Images)

Four MPs - Tories Caroline Nokes and Steve Brine, and Labour’s Ed Miliband and Alex Davies-Jones - declared passes for Glastonbury worth a total of £7,690.

Mr Miliband declared on the register of interests that he attended the festival, along with two family members and a member of staff, “as part of a speaking engagement.”

A further five MPs - Tories Mike Freer and Helen Grant, and Labour’s Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Kim Leadbeater - declared £3,455 worth of tickets to Wimbledon.

Mr Starmer enjoyed the tennis from the Royal box, with two tickets valued at £740.

And five MPs claimed £6,361 worth of tickets to Royal Ascot.

They included Labour’s Conor McGinn, who attended in his capacity as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Horse Racing.

Tories Brandon Lewis, Helen Grant, Laura Farris and Laurence Robertson also declared gifted tickets to the races - with Mr Robertson attending two days in a row.

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