The first reaction to the report that Waheed Alli was given a pass to No 10 by the new Labour government was not one of surprise.
It is hard to think of anyone else who has been such a mainstay around the senior Labour hierarchy these past three decades than the wealthy TV entrepreneur.
Lord Alli seems to have an “in” with the party bosses, regardless of who they are, that others do not possess. Now 59, he was made a peer by Tony Blair as long ago as 1998.
What endeared him to the Labour inner circle were his links to the youth subculture. Alli was born in Croydon, south London, to Indo-Caribbean parents, to a Hindu mother and Muslim father. He’s a rare example of someone from a humble background (she was a nurse and his estranged father, a mechanic), an Asian, to have made it in two notoriously tough sectors.
Self-made man
First, was the City. He left state school at 16, after O-levels. He found work as a junior researcher on a financial magazine. He spent a few years preparing monthly reports, then joined Save and Prosper, part of Robert Fleming. Then he returned to financial publishing, before going back to the City proper as an investment banker.
This made him wealthy. With his partner, the TV producer Charlie Parsons, and Bob Geldof, Alli co-founded Planet 24 and made hit, ground-breaking shows The Word, Survivor and Big Breakfast. When Carlton TV bought Planet 24 for £15 million in 1999, Alli and Parsons cleverly retained the rights to Survivor.
A string of TV ventures followed, including owning the rights to Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie, backing Rupert Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth with her Shine company and Paul O’Grady’s Olga Television.
Today, Alli’s Silvergate Media holds the rights to Beatrix Potter and Octonauts. He tried and failed to buy Virgin Radio and he promoted Koovs, the troubled Indian equivalent of online fashion retailer, Asos.
Alli has another claim to rarity. He’s a longtime Labour supporter, joining at the behest of his friend and neighbour, Emily Thornberry. That marks him down in Labour eyes as someone worth cultivating, for there are few City and media success stories who are publicly allied to the party.
Even in the heady days of Blair, business types were slow in coming forward, at least where Labour was concerned. The Tories attracted more heavy hitters from commerce. They still do.
Alli was not only Labour but he was “cool”. A snappy, colourful dresser and naturally gregarious, he was synonymous with TV programmes that reached out to youth. In 1998 he was the youngest, and first openly gay, member of the House of Lords.
Mixing with stars
It should not be underestimated how politicians, even those who hold themselves out as being connected to the zeitgeist, “down with the kids” and on top of the latest trends, aren’t really. They’re serious and nerdy, and very often they’ve led academically studious, sheltered lives.
The non-university-educated Alli introduced them to a subculture where they feared to tread – youth or more popularly, “yoof”. Even Blair and the likes of Peter Mandelson, for all their pretensions at being up with current fashion, looked fuddy duddy alongside Alli.
It’s also a difficult age group for political electioneers to crack. Smooth-talking, confident Londoner Alli provided that elusive connection.
He had money as well, and was fond of holding lavish parties, mixing politicos with TV stars and business figures. An invitation to one of his bashes was considered a hot ticket.
Put all that together and Alli presented Labour with an appealing cocktail. He never deserted the party, even during tough times, active on the Labour benches in the Lords and playing a key role in fund-raising. Once Keir Starmer became leader and ousted the left, Alli stepped up. He has reportedly given £500,000 to Starmer’s Labour and £50,000 to Starmer personally.
Starmer addressed the row over his temporary Downing St pass this summer, saying on Tuesday that it was attack politics from the defeated Conservatives. “I’m not really going to take lectures on this from the people who dragged our country so far down in the last few years,” he said.
Alli is thought to have taken on a discreet role of Starmer’s image adviser before the election. It’s noticeable how Starmer’s appearance and dress sense changed. Once, he wore dull suits and boring spectacles; now his jackets are unstructured, he likes to be seen in casual clothes and his glasses are more youthful. He’s less stuffy, analytical lawyer, more edgier, sharper manager.
Alli is credited by those around the Prime Minister as being responsible. Given that, it should come as no shock that he was awarded a No 10 security clearance.
Careless Labour
What is startling is that Labour should have been so careless. Having spent years castigating a succession of Tory premiers for their cronyism, the Starmer administration has only gone and committed the same.
He held no formal job in government but Alli was given unrestricted access. He hosted a reception for party donors in the No 10 garden.
It probably says more, however, about the ubiquitous nature of Alli and his constant closeness, that he was handed the all-important badge. Probably, it was taken for granted and no one gave it a second thought – until the story broke in The Sunday Times at the weekend.
Now, of course, and rightly, the Tories are all over it. Shadow paymaster general John Glen said it was “disappointing” to see Labour “only attempting to act on their culture of cronyism after feeling the pressure in the media”.
Labour is insisting the pass was “temporary” and was “given back several weeks ago”. The damage, though, is done. Having been elected on a squeaky-clean promise, the normally ultra-careful Starmer appears to have fallen at the earliest of hurdles.
But then there is something of a blind spot where Waheed Alli is concerned. There always was.
