Andy Carter and Charlotte Nichols declare £19k in donations

MPs are - by law - required to declare their financial interests, which includes a list of gifts, donations, and earnings from other employment.

Both of Warrington's MPs declared a number of gifts, donations, and incomes to the tune of approximately £30,450 between Charlotte Nichols and Andy Carter.

Ms Nichols declared benefits worth £500 from Heineken UK to attend the men's Euros in 2021 (Image: Newsquest)

Charlotte Nichols, the Labour MP for Warrington North, registered a donation of £4,000 from the GMB trade union, which was listed in January 2020 - just one month after Ms Nichols entered Parliament, having been elected in December 2019.

According to lists of MPs' financial interests, the GMB union donated a total of more than £397,738 to Labour MPs since December 2019.

Ms Nichols also registered a gift or benefit from the British Council, registered in November 2022, to the tune of £2,930.

The Labour MP also listed a benefit or gift from Heineken UK, which was in the region of £500.

Charlotte Nichols' register of financial interests - covering gifts, donations, or other employment - totals approximately £7,450.

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In response to a request for comment, Charlotte Nichols MP told the Warrington Guardian: "The GMB donated towards my campaigning activities. I am proud to accept money from trade unions – the most transparent and regulated funding in British politics – on behalf of the working people who are their members.

“I declared all of these and the other two instances have previously been reported by the Warrington Guardian. Heineken paid for a ticket to the Men’s Euros semi-final, which I attended as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Pubs.

"The British Council funded the visit of a group of MPs including me to understand the work of the British Council overseas and how this enhances our foreign policy and trading objectives worked on by Embassy and FCDO colleagues in the region."

Ms Nichols added: “It is right that all of these are both in the public domain and easily accessible by the public. I am always happy to answer any questions about these from my constituents.”

Both of Warrington's MPs have declared thousands of pounds' worth of gifts and benefits (Image: Parliament UK)

Warrington South's Conservative MP, Andy Carter, has declared a total of around £23,000 in benefits, donations, or other employment.

Mr Carter registered four instalments of gifts or benefits from the Rugby League World Cup, totalling £500, across November and December 2022.

The Warrington South MP also registered a £300 gift or benefit from Warrington Football Club, which amounted to £300.

Mr Carter's financial interests also include £1,100 of benefits from Global Media and Entertainment, and Channel 4.

In terms of Andy Carter's additional income, his office has registered that he earned £5,620 in employment with Shoebridge (2006) - Mr Carter is registered as a director of this company.

Mr Carter says many financial benefits were made to the Conservative Party and declared in the correct manner (Image: Andy Carter MP)

The company was registered in the business of 'wholesale of clothing and footwear.'

Shoebridge (2006) liquidated in January 2022.

Mr Carter was in receipt of a £4,550 donation from IX Wireless, a telecommunications company that is installing 'ultra-fast internet' to a number of cities and towns across the UK.

Warrington is not one of the towns that IX Wireless is working on.

IX Wireless only has two staff members, one of whom lives in the United Arab Emirates - when the company's headquarters were visited by SkyNews, they were found to be empty.

Mr Carter also received two donations totalling £3,500 from the United and Cecil Club - this is a dinner party club that is a known donor to the Conservative Party.

The dinner club often donates to candidates running campaigns in marginal Parliamentary constituencies, such as Mr Carter - these two donations were listed in January 2020, one month after Mr Carter entered the Commons.

A final donation was registered by Andy Carter, which was a sum of £7,000 from Foxglove Solutions, a management and consultancy company.

Responding to the Warrington Guardian, Andy Carter MP said: "I welcome transparency, just before Christmas I called on the Government in a debate to provide more timely reporting of ministerial interests so that there is no difference between the reporting of backbench MPs and those who hold roles in Government.

“I declare all donations and benefits where there is a monetary value, including when I attend events in my capacity as the MP for Warrington South and in my role as the chair of numerous Parliamentary groups. 

"Financial support given by businesses have all been made directly to and declared by the Conservative Party however I have also made declarations where they are to support my political activities in the constituency."

MPs' financial interests are declared with additional contextual information in the Parliamentary register of members' interests.