Overview
- Independent adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found no breach of the Ministerial Code but said Josh Simons accepted the Apco contract’s scope was wider than he understood and that he acted too hastily.
- Labour Together paid Apco Worldwide £36,000 in 2023 to examine the sourcing, funding and origins of media coverage about the think tank.
- Simons said he never sought to smear journalists and praised reporters whose work scrutinised Labour Together.
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer accepted Simons’s resignation with sadness and noted his cooperation with the inquiry.
- Conservatives called for a full investigation into Labour Together, which was fined £14,250 in 2021 for failing to declare more than £700,000 in donations.