What Is The Connection Between Streeting And Bankman-Fried?
Reform UK Chairman Lee Anderson has called for a parliamentary investigation into Defence Secretary Wes Streeting over roughly £37,000, or about $50,000, in political support linked indirectly to convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
The support did not come directly from Bankman-Fried. Parliamentary disclosures show that Labour for the Long Term funded a policy adviser working in Streeting’s office during 2022 and 2023, when Streeting was Labour’s shadow health secretary.
The Bankman-Fried connection runs through David Lawrence, who founded Labour for the Long Term and reportedly received a personal gift of about £500,000 from the former FTX chief in June 2022. Roughly a month later, the organization began funding a policy adviser in Streeting’s parliamentary office.
Anderson wants the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to examine whether the source of the organization’s funding was sufficiently transparent when Streeting accepted the support.
There is currently no evidence that Bankman-Fried donated directly to Streeting, that Streeting knew about Bankman-Fried’s payment to Lawrence, or that Bankman-Fried’s money ultimately funded the adviser working in Streeting’s office.
Streeting’s representatives said appropriate due diligence was conducted. He reportedly asked Labour for the Long Term for a list of its donors before accepting the support, and Bankman-Fried was not included. Streeting has also said he never had contact with the former FTX executive.
Was Bankman-Fried’s Money Used To Support Streeting?
Lawrence disputes any connection between the two transactions. He has said Bankman-Fried’s money was donated to UK charities and that the support provided to Streeting was funded separately by another donor.
Labour for the Long Term has also said it did not receive donations from Bankman-Fried or the FTX Foundation.
That distinction is central to the dispute. The established chain is that Bankman-Fried gave money personally to Lawrence, Lawrence founded an organization, and that organization later provided staffing support to Streeting. Whether money from Bankman-Fried moved through the organization and ultimately benefited Streeting has not been established.
The case therefore focuses less on a proven improper donation than on how far political figures should be expected to investigate the finances behind organizations that provide them with staff, services or other support.
Investor Takeaway
The controversy is primarily about political finance transparency rather than an established direct payment from Bankman-Fried to Streeting. The central question is whether existing disclosure rules reveal enough about the original source of money flowing through political organizations.
Why Do Unincorporated Associations Matter?
The dispute has renewed scrutiny of unincorporated associations, which can collect money from multiple sources before providing political contributions or other forms of support.
Critics argue that this structure can make it harder to identify who ultimately supplied the funds. An MP may know the name of the organization formally providing assistance without having full visibility into the finances of its founders, members or underlying donors.
Streeting’s reported request for a donor list shows one possible level of due diligence, but the case exposes a harder question: whether politicians should also investigate large personal payments received by people who control or establish organizations supporting their offices.
Requiring MPs to trace the entire financial history of every donor would be difficult. At the same time, accepting tens of thousands of pounds in staffing support from an organization with limited public information about its financing can create political and reputational risk even where disclosure rules have been followed.
Why Is Reform’s Intervention Politically Complicated?
Anderson’s demand comes as Reform leader Nigel Farage faces scrutiny over his own financial arrangements ahead of the Clacton by-election on Aug. 13.
Farage has faced questions over a £5 million gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne received before he became an MP, as well as reported financial assistance from longtime associate George Cottrell. Farage has denied wrongdoing and described the Harborne payment as an unconditional personal gift unrelated to his political activities.
The overlap makes consistency important. The same basic questions apply in both cases: who supplied the money, whether it was connected to political activity, what the recipient knew and whether disclosure rules gave voters a clear view of the financial relationship.
Bankman-Fried’s involvement makes the Streeting dispute more politically damaging because the former FTX chief is serving a 25-year U.S. prison sentence after being convicted on seven fraud counts. A federal appeals court upheld his conviction and sentence in June.
But the wider issue does not depend on whether the original source of money later became notorious. If political disclosures identify only the organization making the final contribution while leaving its underlying financing unclear, formal compliance may still fall short of giving voters a complete picture.
That is likely to be the more important question if the standards commissioner examines the case: not simply whether Bankman-Fried’s money can be traced to Streeting, but whether current UK rules require enough transparency when political support passes through intermediary organizations.