Reeves given £27,000 donation from lobbying firm linked to Thames Water bidder

Rachel Reeves received £27,000 in donations from a lobbying firm owned by the private equity giant which tried to buy Thames Water, The i Paper can reveal.

FGS Global paid for an election campaign adviser for Reeves, as well as a drinks reception.

The lobbying firm is owned by KKR, a US investment firm, which was made the preferred bidder for Thames Water in March. Earlier this week, it pulled out of the deal.

It leaves the water company facing possible nationalisation funded by the taxpayer, which may also lead to higher water bills for consumers.

Lobbying firm FGS also represents Daniel Křetínský, who purchased Royal Mail in December last year, and Shein, who has been trying to get listed on the London Stock Exchange.

There is no suggestion that Reeves’s acceptance of donations from FGS played any role in assisting any of these firms. The donations have been publicly declared in the Registers of Members’ Financial Interests.

However, Reeves has previously faced scrutiny over her judgment for the acceptance of corporate freebies, having received free tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert earlier this year while drawing up welfare cuts, as revealed by The i Paper.

Parliament’s watchdog launched an investigation in April after she failed to declare on time that she had received free tickets for a National Theatre performance over Christmas.

She also received approximately £7,500 in cash donations from Juliet Rosenfeld, a friend and widow of a Labour donor, to purchase work clothing. While Reeves declared these donations as cash gifts in the parliamentary register, she did not specify that the money was spent on clothing. Her team maintains that this complied with parliamentary rules, as the donations were monetary rather than direct gifts of clothing.

The latest disclosure raises fresh questions about transparency in Westminster lobbying, including how and when MPs meet with interested parties.

Lobbyists attempt to influence the decisions of government. A change in government commonly results in companies moving their interests towards lobbying firms perceived as offering better access to those in power.

FGS Global has spent thousands on donations for Reeves and the Labour Party over the past year.

• FGS Global – owned by KKR – spent £14,000 on a campaign adviser for Reeves from February to May 2024, according to an analysis of lobbying registers and MPs’ financial interests.
• Separate records from the Electoral Commission disclose that FGS donated £17,000 of staffing to the Labour Party in May 2024. It has been reported that a £17,000 donation paid for the secondment of FGS partner Kamella Hudson, said to have arranged meetings between Shein and ministers.
• Reeves met with KKR in August 2024 to discuss economic investment in the UK, according to the register of ministers’ meetings.
• FGS spent another £13,000 on the Chancellor’s drinks reception following her speech at the Labour Party conference last September.
• Treasury minister Spencer Livermore also held a roundtable in September 2024 with the Global Infrastructure Investor Association and some of its members to discuss investment in the UK water sector. KKR is one of the members of this trade body.

Campaigners, politicians and unions criticised the choice of KKR as the preferred bidder for Thames Water.

The Treasury has been accused of helping to force through KKR’s bid uncontested.

The Treasury reportedly told the Environment Department that it would have to meet the cost of nationalising Thames Water if bids to save the company fail. A Government spokesperson said: “We don’t recognise these claims.”

Rose Whiffen, senior research officer at anti-corruption group Transparency International UK, said: “When lobbyists tied to major corporations can fund politicians’ campaigns and events, the public has every right to question whether those politicians are serving public interests or corporate profits.”

Gary Carter, national officer at GMB Union, said he was “concerned” about the ties between the Treasury and KKR. “Government ought to be spending more time talking to the workforce and ourselves, rather than spending lots of time with lobbyists and people who are paid by a company owned by KKR,” he said.

A Government spokesperson said: “Water companies are commercial entities. It would be inappropriate to comment further on the specific situation.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “All necessary declarations have been made, in line with the rules.”

Thames Water said it remains focused on putting itself “on a more stable financial foundation”.

KKR and FGS Global declined to comment.