Lincoln MP failed to declare donor’s firm received extra £10k in expenses

Member of Parliament for Lincoln Karl McCartney failed to publicly declare that one of his campaign donors – Anagallis Communications – was the recipient of £10,000 of parliamentary expenses.

McCartney did not wish to comment in response to reports first published in Business Insider when The Lincolnite asked why the full name of the company was not disclosed.

In describing the company as ‘A’ only in his expenses, McCartney did not appear to break any existing rules, however opposition politicians have questioned the move. MPs must adhere to a Code of Conduct including principles of “accountability and openness.”

In May, a Freedom of Information Request revealed that McCartney had claimed £21,600 “for administrative services” to Anagallis Communications, founded by donor Nigel Szembel – sole director, shareholder and CEO of the Cambridgeshire-based company.

Szembel gave McCartney £4,000 in early 2010 before his successful campaign saw him take the seat from his Labour rival at the time Gillian Merron.

Business Insider wrote that expenses claims published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) show claims to a company registered as ‘A’ in October and November 2020, for “Provision of Professional and Administrative Services.”

Previous claims had provided the name of the company.

An additional Freedom of Information Request by Insider showed that ‘A’ is Agnallis Communications.

“The total of £31,200 spent in bought-in staffing services by McCartney with Anagallis is nearly a third of McCartney’s total amount claimed on expenses for bought-in services – £101,290 – in 2020 according to IPSA records,” Insider reports.

When The Lincolnite contacted Karl McCartney directly he did not provide a comment on the record.

The Lincolnite also contacted Nigel Szembel for comment, but have yet to revive a response.

Karl ousted Karen Lee to gain the Lincoln seat in 2019 – his business costs are publicly available to view here.