11 August 2026 , 20:16
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Health secretary Yvette Cooper has accepted almost £500,000 from a businessman with commercial ties to the NHS, an analysis by the BMJ has found.
Cooper, who was appointed to the new role by prime minister Andy Burnham on 20 July, received the donations from medical recruitment entrepreneur Peter Hearn and two of his firms.
According to her parliamentary financial disclosures, she received £248,619 directly from Hearn, as well as a further £220,623 over the past ten years from two companies: MPM Connect and OPD Group.
Hearn, who died recently, held a significant stake in Odgers Berndtson, a recruitment firm that worked extensively with the NHS.
Odgers has also acted as a recruitment partner for a number of senior NHS appointments. It headhunted former TalkTalk boss Dido Harding to oversee the controversial Test and Trace programme during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cooper’s donations were declared and there is no suggestion that she breached parliamentary rules. But doctors and campaigners have raised concerns about the perception of a conflict of interest.
“NHS doctors are prohibited from accepting small gifts from pharmaceutical companies, such as a pen or a notepad, because of the risk of the perception of influence.” Steve Taylor of the Doctors’ Association UK told the BMJ. “Ministers responsible for the NHS should be held to at least the same standard.”
“Political donations from individuals or companies with commercial ties to the NHS… inevitably raise questions about whose interests are being served,” said GP Emily Ball, director of the anti-privatisation group EveryDoctor.
“Mr Hearn kindly donated money to fund Yvette’s office staff, which has all been fully declared and is compliant with all the rules,” a spokesperson for Cooper told the BMJ.
Hearn was a major Labour party donor, with former health secretary Wes Streeting also receiving more than £285,000 from the mogul and his companies between February 2019 and February 2026.
Head of Investigations