Angela Rayner’s boyfriend has landed a job advising the record label giant behind some of the world’s biggest musicians, including Taylor Swift.
Sir Lucian Grainge, the boss of Universal Music, called in Sam Tarry to guide the company’s interactions with Westminster before Angela Rayner’s resignation as deputy prime minister, it is understood.
Mr Tarry, a former Labour MP who began a relationship with Ms Rayner following her divorce from union boss Mark Rayner, is working with Universal in a personal capacity. His role is understood to be an advisory one.
It is understood he has carried out some of the work from Admiralty House, the grace-and-favour flat on Whitehall that Ms Rayner was able to use as deputy prime minister.
The appointment comes as Universal ramps up its fight against tech firms over widespread copyright infringements in the development of AI.
The company, which is the world’s largest music group and is home to musicians including Adele, Ariana Grande, Drake and Bob Dylan, has been an outspoken opponent of the “unlawful” use of copyrighted material to create AI-generated music.
Stars like Taylor Swift are managed by the leading music group, Universal Music – Andre Dias Nobre/AFP or Licensors
It has filed lawsuits against tech firms, including Anthropic, alleging that the company’s chatbot Claude was trained using lyrics from songs, including Katy Perry’s Roar and Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.
Sir Lucian, a British executive who is widely considered the most powerful person in the music business, has branded AI-generated replicas of artists “unacceptable and immoral”. Universal also began pulling its music from TikTok amid a row over deepfake music on the social media platform, though the two companies have since inked a new agreement that includes AI protections.
Universal is separately fighting a legal battle against Drake, who sued the label for defamation over a diss track released by rival rapper Kendrick Lamar. The company has branded the lawsuit “farcical” and “groundless”.
Mr Tarry, the former MP for Ilford South who was sacked as shadow transport minister after attending a picket line with striking rail workers, has come under scrutiny for his work as a lobbyist in recent weeks.
The former trade unionist has worked for Henham Strategy, a consultancy group whose client was handed almost £300,000 in exceptional funding by the Labour Government.
The lobbying fuelled concerns about potential cronyism and hypocrisy after Ms Rayner, who until Friday was also housing secretary, previously pledged to crack down on lobbying by former ministers. Henham has said that Mr Tarry did not work on any project relating to housing.
The revelations about Mr Tarry’s work with Universal come after Ms Rayner resigned as deputy prime minister over her tax affairs.
Ms Rayner was found to have breached the ministerial code after The Telegraph revealed she dodged £40,000 in stamp duty on the purchase of her second home in Hove, East Sussex.
Universal Music declined to comment. Mr Tarry has been contacted for comment.
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