Starmer adviser's 16 secret tech meetings raise lobbying concerns

Varun Chandra sits in Downing Street as one of the most connected men in British government, a position few outside Westminster know he holds. The chief business adviser to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and a key figure in the chancellor's inner circle, Chandra has spent the past year meeting with the executives who run some of the world's largest technology companies. What the public did not know—what took twelve months and multiple freedom of information requests to uncover—is that he held sixteen of these meetings in complete secrecy.

Between October 2024 and October 2025, Chandra sat down with senior leaders from Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, Apple, and Meta. The meetings were not announced. They were not logged in any public register. They happened in the spaces where government and corporate power meet, and according to the records obtained by the Guardian, Chandra used them to discuss regulatory changes, artificial intelligence strategy, and how to navigate Donald Trump's return to the White House. In at least one conversation, he offered to arrange a direct meeting between a tech executive and the prime minister himself.

The timing of these encounters matters. While Chandra was having these confidential conversations, the government was simultaneously reshaping its approach to business regulation. Ministers were developing policies designed to attract billions in investment from Silicon Valley, including multimillion-pound energy subsidies and preferential planning approval for data centers in what they called AI growth zones. The government had promised that American tech firms would invest £150 billion in the UK economy. At the same time, in early 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves ordered business watchdogs to strip away what she called anti-growth regulations. The Competition and Markets Authority chair, Marcus Bokkerink, who had been preparing to use new powers to break up tech monopolies, was removed from his post. Reeves later remarked that she had received positive feedback since "she got rid" of Bokkerink, noting that tech companies had previously complained constantly about the regulator.

Chandra is not a household name, but his influence is substantial. Before joining government two years ago, he ran Hakluyt, a London-based corporate intelligence firm staffed largely by former British spies. The company advises some of the world's largest corporations but does not disclose its client list. Chandra still owns more than 300,000 shares in the firm. Starmer brought him into government shortly after Labour's election victory to deepen ties with corporate executives and international investors. His role expanded this year to include responsibility for US trade negotiations, particularly around AI investment. He is one of the few advisers to survive the constant reshuffling of Downing Street staff, and Starmer even considered him for the position of US ambassador.

The meeting logs reveal the substance of these conversations. Chandra met with Siobhan Wilson, Oracle's top UK executive, and prepared the ground for the prime minister to meet Amazon's chief executive, Andy Jassy. He discussed the government's "commitment to removing barriers for businesses" with three Apple executives, including Matt Browne, who manages the company's government relations across Europe. Meta's vice-president, Joel Kaplan—a former Republican official who replaced Nick Clegg in the role—provided feedback on the "UK regulatory landscape." With Microsoft's Brad Smith, Chandra discussed Trump's priorities at Davos and then briefed him on Trump's state visit to Britain.

Unlike senior civil servants and ministers, political advisers in Britain do not have to declare their meetings with private companies or lobbyists. The meetings are recorded by civil servants, but those records are not public. It is a gap in transparency that allows significant influence to flow through channels the public cannot see. Rose Zussman, a senior advocacy manager at Transparency International, described it plainly: "Lobbying behind closed doors enables outside interests to influence our politics without public scrutiny." She called for a comprehensive lobbying register that would capture meetings between outside interests and special advisers, bringing them into the definition of lobbying activity itself.

Chandra declined to comment. So did Google and Amazon. The other tech companies did not respond to requests for comment. A Downing Street spokesperson defended the meetings, saying Chandra had helped secure a UK-US trade deal and "record" inward investment from American companies. "Meeting businesses is a core and entirely expected part of the prime minister's business adviser's role," the spokesperson said. The question that remains unanswered is whether the public has any right to know what those meetings contain, and whether the absence of a register creates space for corporate interests to shape government policy in ways voters cannot see.