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04
Jun
Local MP receives free Premier League hospitality
Sir Alec Shelbrooke received free tickets and hospitality in the directors’ box at Newcastle United for a recent Premier League match.
The gift, worth £643, is declared in the latest Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
The Conservative MP, whose Wetherby and Easingwold constituency includes Boroughbridge, Bishop Monkton, Great Ouseburn, Spofforth, Follifoot and Kirkby Overblow in the Harrogate district, watched Newcastle beat his team West Ham United 3-1 on May 17.
It was the penultimate match of a season in which West Ham were relegated.
Sir Alec's trip was paid for by Gateshead facilities management company UK Commercial Group Ltd.
Asked why he had accepted the donation and for details of his relationship with UK Commercial Group, he said:
This declaration relates to my attendance at West Ham v Newcastle United, hospitality provided by a friend in a personal capacity and nothing to do with my role as an MP.
However, the rules on declarations and their interpretation is that such private matters are deemed registerable; hence me doing so in line with the rules. I, nor my local constituency party, have never received a political donation from UK Commercial Group. I’ve been a lifelong Hammer – through the good years and the most recent bad ones!
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