Ex-Welsh Labour official breaks law in filing omission concerning controversial firm

Martin Shipton

A former director of communications at Welsh Labour has broken the law by failing to file a crucial document with Companies House for a controversial political consultancy he founded that is thought to have received more than £370,000 of public funds.

Cathod Du Consulting, which is wholly owned by Luke Holland, who is also a former Cardiff councillor and whose wife Louise Magee is an ex-general secretary of Welsh Labour, received the money for public relations work undertaken for Labour MPs when the party was in opposition at Westminster.

Hywel Williams, the then Plaid Cymru MP for Arfon, told Nation.Cymru in 2023 that he had concerns about a number of firms that were getting work from MPs that should have been done by their own staff.

Mr Williams called on the UK Parliament’s expenses regulator to halt all payments to public relations firms pending a review of procedures. He said at the time: “The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) seems remarkably trusting of both Conservative and Labour MPs using public money to fund work by PR firms.

“They only require invoices which may provide no detail of work to be done. They do not check output.

“They take a ‘targeted and risk-based’ approach and follow up on complaints.

“This leaves the door wide open for potential misuse of public money for party political purposes and for political parties favouring particular contractors.

“IPSA should halt all payments until it has reviewed its procedures and has checked any cases which would allow for a suspicion of wrongdoing.”

In February 2023 the media platform Open Democracy published an article that also raised concerns about a number of named PR companies, including Cathod Du.

At that time a spokesperson for Cathod Du told Open Democracy : “If IPSA rules or guidance were to change in any way, we would work to those with the same diligence that we work to current arrangements.”

Jo Stevens

Among the Labour MPs who had paid Cathod Du for PR work while in opposition were the current Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens and the current Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

A briefing document about Cathod Du’s finances sent anonymously to Nation.Cymru in November 2024 stated: “Cathod Du Consultancy Ltd’s latest financial statements reveal a significant downturn. Current assets have decreased from £46,523 in 2023 to £5,895 in 2024, with net current assets dropping from £17,120 to £1,000.

“The firm’s workforce has been reduced from an average of three employees in 2023 to one in 2024, highlighting the extent of its decline.

“The accounts suggest that the consultancy’s business model was heavily reliant on income from MPs.”

In a statement, Mr Holland said at the time: *Cathod Du was managed day-to-day by its UK-based team from April 2023.

* Work with all Parliamentary clients was ended at Cathod Du’s instigation more than a year ago. Notice was given to all Parliamentary clients in writing in September 2023, with all contracts ending in October 2023.

* All IPSA invoices for services provided were approved and paid in full. No invoices were rejected.

* The two remaining Cathod Du team members ran all remaining non-Parliamentary accounts for the period following.

* Both of these team members were successfully elected to Parliament at the July 2024 general election. [Gareth Snell became MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central and Ben Goldsborough became MP for South Norfolk].

* Following this, and the arrangements put in place prior to it, remaining client accounts were closed upon their election.

* Since that time, Cathod Du has had no active accounts.

* Company accounts were filed properly – as always – and the company is now dormant.”

Mr Holland went on to indicate that the company would remain dormant.

Active

However, up-to-date Companies House records show that Cathod Du remains active, has not been dissolved, has not been registered as dormant, has failed to file a confirmation statement on time and continues to list the UK as the the director’s country of residence, despite strong evidence that Mr Holland has been resident in Australia for several years.

According to his Linked-In profile, Mr Holland has been employed by Think HQ in Melbourne since April 2023, initially as head of strategic communications and now as group head – strategic communications and PR.

His wife is employed by the Australian Labor Party as its director of strategy, also in Melbourne.

Company directors have a statutory duty to ensure filings are accurate and not misleading in any material respect

A member of the public has now formally referred the matter to both Companies House and HMRC, requesting investigation.

Cathod Du’s confirmation statement was due to be filed with Companies House by December 13 2025, but the Companies House website lists the statement as overdue. Failure to file documents within the statutory period is a criminal offence. In this case, the failure may be considered particularly serious because a confirmation statement requires the director to affirm the accuracy of all registered information, including residence and company status.

Researcher

A company records researcher specialising in UK corporate compliance told Nation.Cymru: “When a director has previously been at the centre of controversy, publicly claims a company is dormant, but keeps it active on the register, allows filings to lapse, and appears to be living and working overseas while still declaring UK residence, that is no longer a benign compliance issue. It is exactly the kind of case the post-2023 enforcement regime was designed to address.”

We put a series of questions to Mr Holland:
* You told Nation.Cymru in 2024 and again in 2025 that Cathod Du was “now dormant”. Why does the company remain active on the Companies House register?

* If the company has no active accounts, why has it not been formally registered as dormant or dissolved?

* Are you currently resident in Australia, and if so, why does Companies House still list the UK as your country of residence?

* You are publicly listed as working at a Melbourne-based communications agency. Why has your residence not been updated accordingly?

* When did you last review your director particulars to ensure they were accurate?

* Why has the company failed to file its confirmation statement on time?

* What business activity, if any, is Cathod Du currently undertaking?

* From where is the company managed and controlled in practice?

* Have you taken professional advice on tax residence and your obligations to HMRC?

* Given the earlier scrutiny around public money, do you accept that maintaining inaccurate or overdue filings undermines confidence?

* Will you now commit to correcting the public register and clarifying the company’s status?

Mr Holland did not respond.