Staffordshire Moorlands MP Dame Karen Bradley has been accused of “living in a political bubble” after accepting more than £10,000 worth of tickets to sporting events since the last general election.
It is already more than half the value of the £17,630 in gifts and hospitality that Dame Karen received in her previous term, between December 2019 and July 2024.
The register of members’ financial interests, which is available to view online, showed that three days after she was elected in July 2024, Dame Karen accepted four tickets to attend the Grand Prix at Silverstone, a value of £4,168.
The following year, she received another four tickets to the same event at a value of £4,928.
Sandbach town councillor Dave Poole, who is also chair of Reform UK in the Staffordshire Moorlands, came third in the general election where Dame Karen narrowly won her seat against Labour’s Alastair Watson, by just 1,175 votes.
Coun Poole said: “She seems to live in a political bubble that has, cross-party, isolated the political class from reality.
“She seems to live in a different world accepting all these gifts and invitations on jollies – it’s hardly what MPs are there for. How can she represent her constituents when she is being looked after by her friends.”
Along with tickets to the Grand Prix in 2024 and 2025, Dame Karen also accepted two tickets to the Women’s Rugby World Cup Final at Twickenham in September last year, valued at £1,190.
In her previous term between 2019 and 2024, she accepted tickets from the FA, the English Football League and Manchester City Football Club to a total value of £6,922 across seven events.
She was handed £1,800 worth of tickets to the Grand National in April 2024, £5,886 to attend Grand Prix in 2019 and 2023 and £1,575 for the 2023 Open Championship golf tournament in Liverpool.
She was also given three tickets and fast track passes to Alton Towers worth £423 in June 2022.
Neither Congleton MP Sarah Russell, Crewe and Nantwich MP Connor Naismith, or Macclesfield MP Tim Roca have received any tickets or hospitality since being elected other than money for paid work, donations to their campaigns or speaking engagements associated with their roles.
Other than an MP-related conference and donations towards party support, MP Aphra Brandreth (Chester South and Eddisbury), whose constituency runs around the “Chronicle’s” circulation area, only accepted one gift – a ticket to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s 100th birthday event, a value of £833.
Esther McVey, who has been the MP for Tatton since 2017, has not accepted any gifts since she was re-elected in 2024, but took £4,145 worth of hospitality between 2021 and 2024, including tickets to the 2022 BRIT Awards, FA Cup games and the Cheltenham Races.
Dame Karen is not the only Staffordshire Moorlands representative to come under fire for accepting gifts and hospitality.
In July last year, Staffordshire County Coun Mike Broom (Biddulph North) said he “couldn’t see the issue” after he accepted £700 worth of free Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue tickets from a family friend, who was married to the owner of a contractor which works with the council.
When asked what he thought about Dame Karen’s decision to accept £10,286 worth of gifts since July 2024, he said: “Are we too quick to criticise public figures? I don’t know.
“These amounts are hugely different compared to the cost of tickets I accepted – ten times as much.
“When she made her acceptance speech the day after she won the election, she made reference to buying her son a new car – I did comment at the time that it didn’t really endear her to the people who went out to vote for her.”
Coun Nigel Yates, who lost his seat on the county Council to Coun Broom at the local elections last May, said the gifts offered to Mrs Bradley could be explained by connections she made during her time as secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport between 2016 and 2018.
He said: “I can understand the rationale in some respects because of her previous role, but there has to come a time when you need a reality check.
“You have to ask yourself if you’re being invited because you have some power or influence. You have to be very careful when you take things.
“Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but there’s no such thing as a free ride. If you’re being offered free tickets, what is the end game?”
He added: “Considering the cost-of-living crisis and the average earnings in the Staffordshire Moorlands, foodbanks, community pantries and we support an awful lot of people who are struggling at the town and district council – taking those sorts of gifts certainly wouldn’t sit comfortably with me.”
Dame Karen was asked to comment.
