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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

@zackpolanski.bsky.social: "The public deserve proper answers. Labour’s relationship with Hakluyt should be investigated" Founded by MI6 agents✅ Advises top private equity firms✅ Worked with Labour before GE24✅ Boss joined No10 to run biz relations after GE24✅ Business now booming ✅

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Starmer's top business adviser previously ran a corporate strategy firm which uses political intelligence to advise major corporations & private equity funds. Until last January, Olly Robbins worked there too. Now, business is booming. www.opendemocracy.net/www-opendemo...

opendemocracy.net

Labour-linked consultancy saw record UK growth after boss left to work in No 10

Zack Polanski calls for investigation as we find Hakluyt’s business grew by 30% after Starmer hired Varun Chandra

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

A longish read from me on a pretty good week in Green Party politics Read on to find out which Labour MP has been accused of 'liking the attention' of being a rumoured defector... www.opendemocracy.net/en/green-par...

opendemocracy.net

Getting serious with Zack Polanski’s Green Party

Star-studded think tank launches, defection rumours and ‘growing pains’ – a week inside the ascendant Green Party

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James Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

The Mandelson story is a rare glimpse into the private life of power, and the extent of state capture by unconstrained wealth. @petergeoghegan.bsky.social & @ethanshone.bsky.social joined me on @lrb.co.uk ON POLITICS to lay out just what that corruption means: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

podcasts.apple.com

On Politics: Mandelson and the Private Life of Power

Podcast Episode · The LRB Podcast · 02/11/2026 · 1h 7m

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

SCOOP: As part of a wider move to increase the involvement of private finance in defence spending, an MoD official spent most of last year working at Rothschild & Co, under the former Cabinet Secretary Lord Mark Sedwill, who has also lobbied government on this www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-mone...

opendemocracy.net

Taxpayers paid to send MoD official to work for elite bank

The secondment, which comes as ministers court private finance, ended on same day we asked the government about it

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Hakluyt has sought to distance itself from links to the intelligence community in the UK, but its US operation continues to hire directly from the services - it has just taken on another ex CIA & WH staffer No 10's Varun Chandra ran Hakluyt's global operations until last July

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Important piece by @MickMcAteer "The UK’s financial lobbyists hold a more powerful role in developing our financial policy now than at any other time in my 30 years as a financial campaigner." www.opendemocracy.net/en/uk-financ...

opendemocracy.net

UK finance lobby’s growing influence threatens our interests

The government is overlooking the lessons of history – and the financial sector’s tendency to cause harm

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Wes Streeting attended the annual Murdoch summer party last month Starmer then had lunch with Lachlan Murdoch a few days later And now Starmer is appointing a current senior exec at Murdoch to No 10

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Thanks @georgemonbiot.bsky.social My analysis of this Labour Party since before the election has been that it is uniquely influenced and shaped by corporate interest... 'the first private sector Labour government' Here are a few more recent articles I've written on this🧵

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Regular reminder that the Dark Arts newsletter is totally free! (though support is appreciated, if you can afford it) In the last few months I've revealed influential lobbying by JP Morgan and Blackstone, who's funding Reform and plans to bring US-style big money to the UK thedarkarts.substack.com

thedarkarts.substack.com

The Dark Arts | Substack

The Dark Arts is a newsletter about dark money and illicit financial flows in politics, brought to you by openDemocracy’s award-winning investigations team. Click to read The Dark Arts, a Substack pub...

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

No10 hosted two calls for lobbyists today, to encourage more cooperation between the government and business - I was on both I wrote about that, what 'private sector government' means in practice, and how a year-old government seems already to be out of ideas www.opendemocracy.net/en/governmen...

opendemocracy.net

Revealed: What goes on in No 10’s mass lobbying calls?

Not much at all, it turns out. But the growing stench of desperation is palpable, even over Microsoft Teams

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

If we think of the payments made to Reform MPs for presenting gigs as essentially political donations, GB News was the second largest donor to Reform last year

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

GB News not only shapes discourse but directly funds its preferred politicians, gives stable jobs & training to the next generation of right wing activists Guaranteed there will be a GBN alumni in cabinet within 15 years

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opendemocracy.net @opendemocracy.net · 16/05/2025

Deputy leader of the Green Party @zackpolanski.bsky.social talks to @ethanshone.bsky.social about his bid to lead not just the Greens, but the wider progressive movement. Read the full interview here ⤵️ www.opendemocracy.net/en/green-par...

Text: “We don’t have time for ‘briefcase politics’” - Zack Polanski’s pitch to lead the left
Image: Polanski addresses striking Science Museum and Natural History Museum security workers represented by the United Voices of the World trade union on a picket line outside the Science Museum on 26th October 2024

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sianushka.bsky.social @sianushka.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Great piece by my colleague @ethanshone.bsky.social into the odd GB Pac that seeks to unite the right (its website leans heavy on AI images of armed lions). www.opendemocracy.net/en/gb-pac-uk...

opendemocracy.net

‘Deeply alarming’ new group could change UK politics forever

Great British PAC wants to unite the right. To do so, it hopes to Americanise UK politics with help of donors like Elon Musk

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

A network of ‘media watchers’, legal challenges, Brainfart Policy, the threat/promise of Musk money, and ‘uniting the right’ ahead of 2029 I profiled a new group in UK politics, who’ve imported the ‘PAC’ model — much to the alarm of transparency groups www.opendemocracy.net/en/gb-pac-uk...

opendemocracy.net

‘Deeply alarming’ new group could change UK politics forever

Great British PAC wants to unite the right. To do so, it hopes to Americanise UK politics with help of donors like Elon Musk

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Which 5-star hotel, favoured by royalty, recently played host to a secretive lobbying meeting with a Labour minister? How might Peter Mandelson bond with Trump if he becomes ambassador to the US? Why does the financial lobby keep winning? This and much more ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/thedarka...

open.substack.com

Dark Arts Dispatch: Westminster is a ‘safe space’ for lobbyists

Plus, how Peter Mandelson might find common ground with Trump in rumoured new role as UK ambassador to Washington

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Just to illustrate the distorting effect that a £10m donation from Elon Musk (or anyone else) would have on UK politics: New data for total donations to all major political parties - Labour, Cons, Greens, LDs, Reform and SNP - shows a total of around £6m for Q3

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

“Dear Secretary of State on behalf of all of us here at BlackRock, please find attached a formal letter of congratulations from myself and our UK Chair, Sandra Boss. And may I add, on a personal note, it is a pleasure after all these years to address you as such!” open.substack.com/pub/thedarka...

open.substack.com

The BlackRock letters: inside Labour's 'close partnership'

The business secretary told the head of a major global investment banker that he looked forward to working together to “change the face of our United Kingdom"

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

In my newsletter yesterday I wrote that Miliband, whose work in government treads most directly on the toes of big corporate interests, will come under increasingly direct and sustained fire And right on cue, today’s DM splash

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EuropeanPowell @europeanpowell.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

'Unlike in many other democracies, such as Canada, Germany and Scotland, voters have no right to know who is lobbying opposition politicians in Westminster' How and why Labour is indulging the worst corporations on the planet for their growth obsession BS. www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-mone...

opendemocracy.net

Lovebombed by lobbyists: How Labour became party of business

An openDemocracy investigation reveals the secretive mass lobbying campaign that shaped Starmer's policies

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Quite nice to join a new platform and find that my writing has already been quoted ! Sharing today, as it feels particularly relevant after Starmer tweeted about his meeting and partnership with BlackRock

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Reposted by Ethan Shone

opendemocracy.net @opendemocracy.net · 21/11/2024

꩜ Westminster’s revolving door just keeps spinning. The latest Dark Arts Dispatch from @ethanshone.bsky.social looks into how failed MPs and outgoing spads turn to lobbying, plus the new shadow science minister’s link to arms firms and tech giants ⤵️ www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-mone...

opendemocracy.net

Dark Arts Dispatch: Westminster’s revolving door just keeps

Failed MPs and outgoing spads turn to lobbying, plus the new shadow science minister’s link to arms firms and tech giants

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I am *shocked* to see that from the first government contracts handed out by the National Wealth Fund, EY and Grant Thornton both bagged work Both firms donated significantly to Labour before the election, providing members of staff to work in party HQ and Starmer’s office

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Hi to new followers and old I'm a reporter covering lobbying, political finance and influence campaigns in the UK For the last 9 months or so I've been focused on Labour's corporate turn, and what it might mean for society Here are some of my best scoops 🧵

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

@danielagabor.bsky.social Hi Daniela, I'm currently writing a piece about BlackRock's engagement with the Labour government. Could you follow back so I can DM you?

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Ethan Shone @ethanshone.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Me, in June: "Dark Arts predicts Labour is about to perform another policy U-turn in the coming weeks by dropping a commitment to force private equity bosses to pay the same rate that you or I would be required to pay on their astronomical bonuses." thedarkarts.substack.com/p/inside-the...

thedarkarts.substack.com

Inside the lobbying campaign to force Labour's next U-turn

How the City fought back against plans to close a £600m loophole, plus more Labour lobbyist candidates

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