It's OFFICIAL! Regulator Electoral Commission Tells Us That Political Parties CAN ACCEPT MONEY FROM CRIMINALS!

 

The Labour Highwayman That Southampton Labour Hates
Image: Southampton Independents

... and the Electoral Commission has no way of telling whether the political party has paid it back!

Yes, it's enormous.

Yes, it's shocking.

Yes, it's scandalous.

The Electoral Commission regulates the funding of political parties. 

Today, the Commission has responded to Andrew Pope's complaint about three Southampton and Portsmouth MPs accepting a total of £30,000 from a convicted violent criminal, Shere Sattar. And the central Labour Party also accepting £10,000 from the same man. 

We checked the Electoral Commission's database and the register of interests of the MPs:

• Satvir Kaur, Labour MP for Southampton Test
• Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South
• Amanda Martin, Labour MP for Portsmouth North

The total of £40,000 was originally reported by the Times and Independent national newspapers. And locally, the Daily Echo. Labour says it has paid it back. But where is the public evidence? 

 

Andrew Pope Reacts 

Co-founder of Southampton Independents and member of the Independent Network Andrew Pope says:

 

Andrew Pope in Millbrook, Southampton
Photo: Southampton Independents

  

"I cannot believe what I have just been told by the Electoral Commission today. Please see below for their response in full.

Not only can political parties accept donations from CRIMINALS, the Electoral Commission has no way of telling whether the political party has paid it back, even when the party claims that it has!

The Labour Party has made such claims - WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE? The evidence is there of the criminal's money going into their campaigns, but there is no public evidence that they have paid it back.

Are we just supposed to believe them, when they had already expelled him from the Labour Party two years before? 

I don't. Do you?"

 

Andrew Pope's Complaint to the Electoral Commission 

"Satvir Kaur has been shown by her Parliamentary register of interests to have accepted £10,000 from convicted violent criminal and Eastleigh Labour Councillor Shere Sattar. Sattar was convicted in 2022. He was expelled by the Labour Party. Yet in 2024, Kaur accepted the £10,000. It is in the Electoral Commission's database of funding. There is no evidence that she has paid the money back. There is also no evidence that the central Labour Party HQ has paid their money back. And there is also no evidence that Stephen Morgan MP nor Amanda Martin MP have paid their money back to Sattar either. Please advise whether there is any evidence of any of the £40,000 has been paid back to the criminal Sattar."

 

Electoral Commission Response 

"Dear Andrew,

 

Thank you for contacting the Electoral Commission. 

 

Regarding donations, there is no restriction on donors with criminal records donating to politicians. So long as the donor is permissible, parties, candidates and elected officials are allowed to accept donations from them.

 

In terms of whether we would know if any of this money had been returned, if someone returns a permissible donation then they don't have to report it to us, and as such we cannot confirm either way whether any of the money would have been returned. The law only requires permissible donations that have been accepted over the set threshold (£11,180 but in some cases £2,230), and all impermissible donations (over £500) to be reported."

POPE LAUNCHES PETITION ON HOW WE ARE GOVERNED

Andrew Pope at Mansel Park, Southampton
Photo: Southampton Independents

Andrew Pope has launched a petition on how Hampshire is governed, amid forced reorganisations to councils and a forced Elected Mayor by Whitehall mandarins and the Labour Minister Steve Reed.

Both have been encouraged by successive Labour and Conservative governments to affect Hampshire, Somerset and other parts of England. Andrew says: 

"Join me to demand a referendum and encourage other residents to do the same to save themselves from democracy being watered down. 
The people, not political parties and not a bankrupt political system, should decide if we:
(a) want to change our councils and 
(b) if we want to have an Elected Mayor.

When I was in the Labour and Co-operative parties, I met Steve Reed MP before he was a Minister, and we spoke about whether he was on the light side or the dark side. I might be mentioning this to him."

The petition is on Change.org at the link here. 

Is our democracy safe from the political parties and Whitehall civil servants? 

No, so we have to stand up against it.

Please sign the petition. 

Democracy at risk, We need a democracy smoke detector
Photo: Southampton Independents

Labour-run Council Fails To Give Details of Councillors in Council Tax Arrears 10 Days Over 20 Day Legal Deadline

 

As we have reported, the Labour-run Southampton City Council failed to respond in time to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request over councillors in council tax arrears. It also failed to do so, given an extra week.

For transparency, we now publish the full request, and ask you to note that on Friday 3rd April 2026, it will be a full ten days after the 20 day legal deadline. 

Andrew Pope, who submitted the request, and has chased and only received apologies instead of the information, says:

 

Andrew Doing Safety Checks for Cyclists and Motorists in Redbridge
Photo: Andrew Pope

"What do you think about this?

Do you think that the Council might be trying to hide something?

Do you think they should be allowed to not respond?

Do you think that we should report them to the Information Commissioner's Office, who regulate FoIs?"

The full request reads:

"Please provide the following information.

1. All correspondence between officers, councillors and members of the public regarding any Southampton City councillors' non-payment of council tax and their inability to vote on council tax setting at the February 2025 Full Council that considered the Budget and associated matters.

   All correspondence should include all correspondence, meaning mobile phone calls, emails, letters, text messages and all social media including Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter.

2. The names of all councillors who did not pay council tax during the Municipal Year of 2024-25, the reasons they gave for non-payment, the amounts they were in arrears, how long they were in arrears, whether they paid up in full or partially, and whether they voted on the council tax setting and associated votes at the 2025 Budget Full Council that set council tax for 2025-26.

3. All actions the Council has taken against any councillor regarding non-payment of council tax, including but not limited to court action and the deduction of the council tax due from their councillor allowance.

4. The full details of councillors still in arrears from previous financial years, as in item 2 above."

 

Andrew Pope Redbridge Independent Network Candidate Confirms Southampton Labour Ditches Its Own Labour Councillor Lee Whitbread Ahead of May Election

 

Ex Labour Councillor Lee Whitbread

Photo: Southampton City Council

Southampton Labour recycles failed councillors. Today, Andrew Pope has confirmed that Lee Whitbread has been ditched by Labour. 

Whitbread's Council seat is up for election in May. Instead of Whitbread, there is a new Labour candidate, somebody with no experience of Redbridge or its people.

Southampton Redbridge Labour in Chaos 

We have reported on the chaos in Southampton Redbridge Labour. Whitbread sacked as a councillor. Sally Goodfellow sacked as a governor by her own Labour-run Council. And the other Labour councillor in Redbridge ... search our website about him and how we stood up to him and his associates. Associates that Labour councillors, a Lib Dem candidate and Tory candidates sided with, instead of standing up for respectability in Millbrook.

Andrew says:

 

Andrew Pope, former Southampton Independents Councillor
Photo: Southampton Independents

 

"I now know more about the situation regarding ex-Labour Councillor Whitbread and the allegations against him.

When I was in Labour over a decade ago, I tried to warn the Labour Party.

But they ignored me, and the evidence that I gave them. I tried to give it to the Leader of the Council then, the disgraced Richard Williams, and he ignored me. I tried to give it to the next Leader, Simon Letts. He ignored me. He lost his seat in 2018.

Now I tried the same with the current Leader of the Council, Shirley Labour's Alex Winning. He sent me to the central Labour Party HQ, instead of listening.

I offered Winning the evidence. He didn't want to know. Winning also needs to be removed by the people of Shirley ward. I have played my part in breaking down Labour's support in that Shirley ward, by standing in two by-elections. Labour or Tory, I said. People agreed.

The allegations against Lee Whitbread must have been really bad, for Labour to not cover them up, like they did when I gave them evidence of Whitbread's wrongdoing and asked Southampton Labour to investigate.

I have confirmed with neighbours of Lee Whitbread that the allegations are extremely serious.

Coincidentally, I was delivering my letters to residents today, and neighbours urged me to listen to their concerns. While speaking to a local resident, I also saw a policeman who asked me the way to Whitbread's house.

Whitbread must be investigated and residents' concerns must be listened to, and acted upon. I remember when Whitbread stood up for bad people, instead of respectable and law-abiding people in Millbrook.

Labour didn't act when I said they should, and the people of Redbridge have been afflicted by Lee Whitbread and his associates for years and years.

Voters must send a message and vote for the Independent Network candidate in May. I am the anti-corruption candidate and I am announcing my candidacy today."

 

EXCLUSIVE: Southampton Labour MP Satvir Kaur's Ministerial Register of Interests and Link to Resigned Minister Josh Simons MP

 

Satvir Kaur, Junior Minster Keir Starmer's Government
and Labour MP for Soutampton Test
Photo: UK Parliament under licence

by Andrew Pope, Co-Founder of Southampton Independents and Somerset Independents

Andrew says: 

"We publish the following information in the public interest. It is unfortunate that this has to be done by voluntary and community journalism, as there has been no coverage by the BBC or Daily Echo, nor any other commercial outlet locally, to our knowledge. Not so far, at least. Perhaps they will up their game now."

We reported on Satvir Kaur's acceptance of £10k from convicted violent criminal Shere Sattar, and also a total of £30k more accepted by two Portsmouth Labour MPs and central Labour HQ. They claim to have given the money back to the criminal.

Satvir Kaur, Labour MP for Southampton Test, was appointed to Keir Starmer's Government in September 2025 as a Junior Minister, Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office. In the Ministerial register, it states that she was on Maternity Leave until February 2026. 

Her cover, it says, was Josh Simons MP, appointed at the same time.

Before the 2024 General Election, Simons was seen as conducting a "purge" of the left-wing in Labour, as reported by the BBC's Political Editor Chris Mason. 

Simons recently resigned in February 2026, according to the Manchester Evening News, amid:

"claims that a think tank he ran before entering Government, paid a PR firm at least £30,000 to look into journalists"

In his first interview since resigning, Simons now claims in a BBC interview one month after his resignation, that he was "naive" in the scandal involving journalists and a think tank called Labour Together. The think tank has been criticised widely, over a considerable period of time, and again today.

Now that she is a Minister, Kaur is required to lodge an entry in the Ministerial register, a copy of which is below:

"Satvir Kaur MP, Parliamentary Secretary

The Minister is on maternity leave until 23 February 2026. Josh Simons MP is acting as maternity cover.

6. Any other relevant interests

Trade union memberships

• Member, UNISON

Previous employment/roles

• Leader, Cabinet Member and Local Councillor, Southampton City Council (2011-2024)

7. Relevant interests of spouse, partner or close family member

• The minister’s spouse/partner is Head of External Affairs at Persimmon Homes"

 

The entry confirms that Kaur's husband, former Southampton Tory councillor Ben Walker, is the Head of External Affairs at Persimmon Homes.

On a recent BBC South Politics programme, Kaur stated that she was "obsessed" with new forms of construction.

In January 2025, as reported by Construction News UK, Persimmon Homes announced:

"Persimmon Homes launches model home to trial new technology"

The BBC has been given the information in this article. 

Southampton MP and Portsmouth MPs Accepted £30k from A Convicted Violent Criminal and Labour Councillor

Satvir Kaur Labour MP Southampton Test
Photo: UK Parliament under licence

In Case You Missed It...

Three Southampton and Portsmouth Labour MPs accepted thousands of pounds from convicted violent criminal and former Labour councillor Shere Sattar.

 

Shere Sattar Labour Councillor
Image: Eastleigh Borough Council

 

This included Southampton Labour MP Satvir Kaur. 

 

Satvir Kaur 2024 General Election Leaflet
Photo: Southampton Independents

 

The Independent reported it here, last year. And we have verified the article by checking the records of Southampton Labour at the Electoral Commission. It is shown in our article here.

The Commission regulates the funding of political parties and candidates.

 

Southampton Labour MP Satvir Kaur at Buckingham Palace with her husband, former Southampton Tory Councillor Ben Walker*
Photo: Satvir Kaur shared publicly via Facebook

In 2024, Southampton Labour MP Satvir Kaur accepted £10,000 from Shere Sattar, despite him being:

1. a convicted criminal in 2022
2. expelled from the Labour Party

The £10,000 was in Satvir Kaur's MP register of interests at Parliament, as well as being in the Commission's database of donations. 

 

Satvir Kaur £10,000 from Convicted Criminal Shere Sattar
Image: Electoral Commission

 

Two Portsmouth MPs also accepted large sums of money from Sattar. Both registered the money in their Parliamentary registers of interests:

1. £15,000 to Stephen Morgan MP, who was the "early education" Minister.
2. £5,000 to Amanda Martin MP 

The central Labour Party also accepted £10,300.

Labour says it is returning the money. 

1. Do you believe the Labour Party that they have returned the money? 
2. What evidence is there, that they have? 
3. Do you trust the Labour Party?
4. Do you believe that the Labour Party and Labour MPs (and other big parties' MPs) may have other criminal money in their donations?

Get in touch to tell us your views. 

 

* Elected representatives are entitled to a private life. However, Satvir Kaur has made her personal life public, including posting publicly photos of her and her baby. It is in the public interest to publish her associations. Her Parliamentary register of interests has never declared the occupation of her husband, Ben Walker. We have checked. However, since 2024, we have reported it via previous registers of interest that she had to declare - with inconsistencies between them that we brought to the attention of the Head of Legal at Southampton City Council. Kaur was given the right of reply, to which she never responded. Walker is confirmed in this role by Kaur's Ministerial register, a copy of which is below:

"Satvir Kaur MP, Parliamentary Secretary

The Minister is on maternity leave until 23 February 2026. Josh Simons MP is acting as maternity cover.

6. Any other relevant interests

Trade union memberships

• Member, UNISON

Previous employment/roles

• Leader, Cabinet Member and Local Councillor, Southampton City Council (2011-2024)

7. Relevant interests of spouse, partner or close family member

• The minister’s spouse/partner is Head of External Affairs at Persimmon Homes"

 

 

 

 

EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION: Southampton Labour Bevois Councillor and Planning Consultant Mike Denness - Hang On... Not THAT Basingstoke and Millbrook Politician Mike Denness?

 

Bevois Labour Councillor Mike Denness
Photo: Southampton City Council

Labour or Tory, same old story? Yes, yet again, we say it, because this Southampton Councillor was a Tory, then suddenly Labour.

Above is the Council's photo of Southampton Labour Bevois Ward Councillor Mike Denness. He might look familiar to you.

In 2017 and 2018, as documented by Southampton Independents and raised in Full Council, multiple investigations were made into Mike Denness by the Head of Legal and the legal team at Southampton City Council. 

We have asked the Head of Legal to investigate him again. 

 

Previous at Millbrook for Labour 

Then, Denness was a Millbrook ward councillor for Labour - not that you would know it from the current Council website. His Millbrook time is not even mentioned - only his time in Bevois is mentioned. Yes, it is the same Mike Denness.

 

Previous at Basingstoke for Conservatives 

Previously, Denness had been the agent for Conservative Basingstoke MP Maria Miller. He had also stood for the Conservatives in Southampton. Yes, it is the same Mike Denness.

 

Conflicts of Interest 

The investigations in 2017 and 2018 related to conflicts of interest between Denness' employment as a planning consultant, and being Chair of the Council's Planning Committee. 

Why would anybody try to do both at the same time? Isn't it a clear conflict of interest? Yes it is. But Denness went ahead. Yes, it is the same Mike Denness.

 

Previous Investigations by the Labour Group Whip 

Denness had also been previously investigated by the Labour Group of Councillors Chief Whip over similar allegations made by Councillor Andrew Pope, before 2015, before Pope quit from Labour and Denness was Millbrook councillor. Those related to Denness brazenly advertising that he was a councillor during his work as a planning consultant. 

 

Conflict of Interest At Council Planning Committee 

At the 24th April 2018 Planning Committee ("selective" agenda and minutes on the Council website here), then Independent Councillor Andrew Pope raised another conflict of interest over a planning application that Denness was presiding over as Chair of the Committee. Pope alleged that Denness had previously been employed as a planning consultant for that same application and site, near Brownhill Way/Brownhill Road. 

The planning application number is 12/00596/FUL, with the description:

"Erection of 14 two-storey houses (12 x three bedroom and 2 x two bedroom) with associated parking, vehicular access from Lower Brownhill Road and space for a children's play area. | Land At junction of Brownhill Way and Lower Brownhill Road"

Pope raised a point of order during the meeting. Photos of the reaction of officers and councillors can be seen in the photos below. Apologies for the grainy nature - the Council Chamber is dark and the pictures were taken on an old camera.

 

Councillor Mike Denness in the Chair
Councillor John Savage and Councillor Stephen Barnes-Andrews
Two Council officers discussing the point of order
Photo: Andrew Pope

Councillor John Savage appears distressed
while Denness consults Council officers
Photo: Andrew Pope

Another Labour councillor from the Committee
whilst Councillor Denness consults an officer
Photo: Andrew Pope

Confusion and Panic in the Planning Committee
after Councillor Pope raised the point of order on conflict of interest
Photo: Andrew Pope

  

This is documented here now, because the official Council minutes do not even mention that Councillor Pope raised the conflict of interest. Officers were complicit is covering the facts for Councillor Mike Denness.

The minutes do state that Denness abstained from the vote. But he still presided over the vote as Chair, despite the clear conflict of interest.

 

Southampton Independents Took Action Where The Council and Labour Did Not

The following month, Southampton Independents put a candidate up against Mike Denness in the Millbrook ward. This was done as an anti-corruption tactic and designed to remove Denness, both as Chair of Planning and as a Tory/Labour turncoat and Millbrook Labour councillor. As documented on the Wikipedia entry for Southampton Independents:

"Denness lost his Millbrook seat to the Conservative candidate, Steve Galton, by 63 votes - less than the number of votes received by the Southampton Independents candidate - 91."

The Southampton Independents Candidate in Redbridge Ward, Denise Wyatt, almost beat Labour. She came second and got more votes than UKIP, the Tories, Greens and Lib Dems put together. Labour employed desperate tactics to cling on to their slim majority.

 

Denness Recycled to Bevois Ward 

Denness was then recycled as a Labour Councillor and then elected to Bevois ward, as shown on the Council website now.

According to his register of interests, he runs Consult Communications planning consultancy. His spouse is a Director. However, no mention of her being a director of Consult Communications is mentioned on the Companies House register of companies, at any time. Never.

Denness' register of interests is dated 31st October 2023. Yet the only other director of that company was Roger Denness.

 

Southampton Independents Taking Action Again Where Others Have Not 

Andrew Pope says:

"I do not believe Mike Denness' spouse is called Roger. His register of interests is therefore inaccurate and that would be a criminal offence.

So I have complained to the Head of Legal again about Denness. When he joined the Labour Party, despite him being a Tory, Southampton Labour ignored Millbrook ward members including me. 

Normally ward members choose the candidate. But for the by-election created by Labour student Councillor Georgina Laming quitting mid-term, they made Denness the Labour candidate without ward members.

This itself was wrong, and suspicious. Denness rang me, pleading for acceptance.

I never accepted him, and I was proved right by my complaint to the Chief Whip, and after I had left Labour, I was determined to expose Mike Denness. I did, yet the selective minutes of that Planning meeting pretend that I did not.

It seems that process of exposing Mike Denness is continuing, with his register of interests being wrong. I have complained to the Head of Legal.

Yet again, it's Labour or Tory, same old story, Or rather, Tory then Labour, same old story." 

Andrew Pope

 

Labour-run Council Now A WEEK Over Legal Deadline for Councillor Council Tax Arrears Information ... Plus Councillor DBS Checks and Company Director Checks Also Missing

 

We Are Members of the Independent Network

 

Member of the Independent Network Andrew Pope submitted a Freedom of Information request in relation to Southampton City Councillors, and whether any of them were in arrears with their own council tax.

The Council is required by the FoI Act to respond within a deadline of 20 working days. A week ago, they wrote to Andrew informing him they were running late, and did not have the information. They also promised an estimated date.

A week later, neither the requested information, nor a date, have been given. 

Residents still do not know whether any of the 51 Southampton councillors are in arrears with their council tax. Elections are coming on 7th May 2026. It is in the public interest that they know.

It is also in the public interest that citizens know that three councillors did not even attend the February 2026 Full Council to set the Council budget. Citizens and voters do not know if they supported the Budget, voted against it, or abstained. By law, councillors have to have their vote recorded in the minutes. 

As exclusively reported by us, suspended Labour Councillor Lee Whitbread (Redbridge ward), another Labour Councillor Vivienne Windle (Banister and Polygon ward), and a Tory councillor Valerie Laurent (Harefield), were not there. They gave their apologies.

We've asked them why. They haven't even replied to our polite offer of a right of reply.

Andrew has requested an urgent update from the Council and the missing councillors. He says: 

Andrew Co-Founded Somerset Independents
as well as Southampton Independents
Photo: Somerset Independents

"This Labour-run Council is in chaos. They should have this information already at hand. And the three absent councillors do not seem to think that they should be accountable to the people in their wards and areas.

In Somerset, by asking similar questions, I discovered many councillors that had not paid up - not just oversights for a month or two, but many months and in some cases, YEARS of council tax not paid.

The worst example was a Green Party councillor who thought it was all OK. You can see more information on the Somerset Independents website.

I have also discovered this week by asking questions of the Head of Legal at the Council that only the newly-elected third of councillors in May will have a DBS check.

The other two-thirds of councillors will not have had a DBS criminal records check.

How do residents know that their councillor has not gained a record since being elected, or even before being elected? The disqualifications are not stringent enough.

I have also discovered that councillors are not checked over whether they have been disqualified as a company director. I find this odd, considering they vote on hundreds of millions of pounds of public money during Full Council and at Cabinet.

What do you think? Does this all smell wrong? I think it does. Southampton Independents will continue its campaigns and investigations.

The big political parties do not like scrutiny of their finances, or their representatives.

As reported by the Times and Independent, and on our website, Labour MP Satvir Kaur accepted £10,000 from a convicted violent criminal and Eastleigh Labour councillor, and two Portsmouth MPs also accepted money from Shere Sattar, as well as central Labour HQ. This was despite Sattar being convicted in 2022 and expelled from the Labour Party! What checks can they have carried out? Not very accurate ones, that's for sure! Does it make any difference that they paid the money back, but only after being find out? No."

 

Dodgy Labour MPs and Dodgy Labour Councillors
Image: Southampton Independents

 

REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN: Andrew Pope Writes To Leaders of Councils and Groups Again About A Referendum... and Complains About the BBC

 

Andrew Pope on BBC South Today about "Devolution"
Photo: Southampton Independents

Andrew Pope says: "A sham consultation of Southampton and Hampshire people is not enough to change how we are governed. The big political parties should be made to persuade us, not force us, in a vote, just like the EU Referendum but conducted in a more informed and balanced way by a citizens jury first". 

After yesterday's dreadful announcement that Southampton City Council is to be merged with others in the Region, Andrew Pope has given another chance to leaders of Hampshire councils, and leaders of political groups of councillors, to support a Referendum on (a) council reorganisation and (b) an Elected Mayor.

He has written to the leaders of the following councils:

• Hampshire County - Conservative Councillor Nick Adams-King
• New Forest District - Conservative Councillor Jill Cleary
• Test Valley Borough - Conservative Councillor Phil North
• Portsmouth City - Liberal Democrats Councillor Steve Pitt
• Southampton City - Labour Councillor Alex Winning

and previously had been in touch with the Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, Independent Phil Jordan.

Some of these leaders had responded to previous correspondence on the issues at hand. Others did not.

None had supported a Referendum. 

Andrew has also written to the leaders of all political groups in Southampton City Council again. Some had engaged with a debate, but again...

• Conservative Group Leader Councillor Peter Baillie
• Liberal Democrats Group Leader Councillor Richard Blackman
• Labour Group Leader Councillor Alex Winning
• Both Green Councillors Matt Renyard and Katharine Barbour
• The sole Reform Councillor Sarah Powell-Vaughan 

None have supported a Referendum, although the Southampton Liberal Democrats did, and then changed their mind.

The author of the article Jason Lewis, the Local Democracy Reporter funded by the BBC, that only includes the views of Labour elected representatives in Southampton, and nobody else in Southampton, was cc'd. The BBC is required to be impartial. Andrew has written to Jason Lewis and the Editor of the Echo, Ben Fishwick, to complain.

 

 

Andrew Pope's Essay on "Immigration"

 

Andrew Pope on BBC South Today

Our co-founder and member of the Independent Network Andrew Pope has published an essay on "immigration".

It is on this page here.

Agree? Disagree? Get in touch.