Donald Trump’s campaign has accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party of “blatant foreign interference” in the U.S. presidential election after some volunteers from the party traveled to assist in the campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris.
In response, the Republican candidate’s camp has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in Washington, seeking an investigation into what they describe as illegal contributions from Labour to the Harris campaign.
Historically, British political volunteers have traveled to the U.S. to support elections, with members of the center-left Labour Party typically aligning with the Democrats, while Conservatives tend to back Republicans.
Unnamed British officials informed Reuters that several senior Labour advisers met with Democrat strategists in recent months, following their landslide victory in the British election in July. The discussions included strategies on how Labour regained support in former industrialized areas that had shifted away from them in 2019.
Labour leader Keir Starmer dismissed concerns that the complaint could harm relations with Trump if he wins the presidency again on November 5, asserting that Labour supporters were volunteering on their own time.
However, the complaint introduces a potential complication for diplomatic relations. Trump, who has previously maintained a rapport with Britain’s right-wing politician Nigel Farage and had good relations with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, expressed praise for Starmer during their meeting in September at Trump Tower.
Greg Swenson, chairman of Republican Overseas UK, commented that while Trump is unpredictable, he believes this incident is unlikely to damage relations with Starmer if Trump is re-elected. “Trump takes things personally and lets personal disputes affect him,” Swenson noted.