So Boris got fined for cake in his workplace but “Sanctimonious Starmer” got no fine for bringing in an actress for non-essential vanity voice coaching?
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing fresh scrutiny after newly uncovered details suggest he may have broken lockdown rules during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The PM is facing scrutiny over claims that he appointed his personal voice coach as a “key worker” during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite strict government guidelines defining critical workers as those essential to public services.
According to Times journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire, Starmer granted his personal voice coach, actress Helga Mellinger, “key worker” status, allowing her to visit Labour Party headquarters in London on Christmas Eve 2020—when the capital was under strict Tier 4 “stay at home” restrictions.
The Times article states:
“Those who worked with Starmer on that leadership campaign say his triumph would not have been possible without Mellinger, who helped him navigate the transition from courtroom to Commons chamber, television studio and debating stage. He considered her role so essential that Mellinger even qualified for ‘key worker’ status during the pandemic. She visited Labour headquarters in a mask on Christmas Eve in 2020, advising Starmer as he considered his response to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.”
Under government guidance at the time, only those in roles essential to the Covid-19 response or critical public services were granted key worker status. A personal voice coach does not appear to meet these criteria, raising serious questions about whether Starmer knowingly circumvented the rules.
This revelation is particularly damning given Starmer’s previous stance on lockdown breaches. He famously declared on television that he would resign if found to have broken Covid rules—a statement made during the Beergate scandal in Durham, when he was investigated but ultimately cleared. Many suspected at the time that he only made the pledge because he was confident he would not be punished.
But this time, critics say the evidence is different. If the claims in the Times are accurate, Starmer could be in serious difficulty.
Conservative MP Jane Stevenson took to X to say:
“So… Boris Johnson and Number 10 staff were actually running the country during an international pandemic. Got fined for cake and being in their workplace. And Mr Sanctimonious Starmer got no fine for bringing in an actress for non-essential vanity voice coaching? And Durham Beers.”
A former Conservative MP, speaking on the condition of anonymity, slammed Starmer over the revelations, saying:
“No one would care about this if it weren’t for Starmer’s sheer hypocrisy. He never stopped banging on about Boris glancing at a piece of cake in his office, acting like the guardian of moral purity. He’s as sanctimonious as he is slippery. There’s nothing worse than a hypocrite. Let’s see how he slithers out of this one.”
He has repeatedly opposed any amnesty or statute of limitations on retrospective prosecutions for Covid rule breaches, meaning he would have no justification for avoiding consequences himself.
After escaping Beergate, the question now is: will Keir Starmer get away with it again?
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