Palantir lobbying link puts Burnham campaign under scrutiny as £330m NHS deal faces pressure

Martha Dalton took six weeks of unpaid leave to help Andy Burnham reach Downing Street. Her company had recently worked for Palantir, the US technology group now fighting to keep a £330m NHS England contract, according to Guardian Business (direct). The connection brings a campaign volunteer’s role into focus as ministers face demands to end one of the company’s major British public-sector deals.

Dalton co-founded the lobbying firm Lodestone, which worked for Palantir in 2024 and 2025. She later helped Burnham’s team with campaign messaging and responses to criticism during the Makerfield byelection that returned him to parliament. She was also among the supporters who welcomed him to Downing Street in July. In a LinkedIn post, Dalton described helping his campaign for the Labour leadership and premiership as an honour.

Lodestone said Dalton had no contact with clients during her campaign leave and volunteered because she believed Burnham was the right person to lead Labour and the country. Its earlier Palantir work included parliamentary events where engineers demonstrated artificial intelligence software for public services and answered MPs’ questions. Dalton also worked on Lucy Powell’s autumn 2025 deputy leadership campaign, a few months after Lodestone’s work for Palantir ended. Powell is now education secretary.

A health contract under pressure

At stake is Palantir’s contract to operate NHS England’s federated data platform, a national medical data system. Campaigners want the agreement cancelled over the company’s work for Israel’s military in Gaza and the US immigration enforcement agency ICE under Donald Trump. They also question whether the platform’s public-health benefits match the claims made for it. NHS England chief executive Jim Mackey has acknowledged those concerns about benefits, the report said.

Health workers protested against the deal at Labour’s conference in Liverpool on Tuesday. Party members had also submitted a motion seeking its cancellation, citing allegations of human-rights abuses linked to Palantir’s military work. Louis Mosley, the company’s executive vice-president for the UK and Europe, has said its technology helped locate hostages in Gaza, not identify military targets. He has also defended its role in reducing treatment waits and speeding hospital discharges.

Political connections, commercial stakes

Dalton’s involvement adds to other Labour connections reported by the Guardian. Labour peer Tom Watson took a full-time lobbying job with Palantir earlier this month after serving on Lodestone’s strategic advisory council. Palantir previously employed Global Counsel, Peter Mandelson’s lobbying business, before its collapse over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Beyond health, Palantir holds a £240m Ministry of Defence contract. It is also in a legal dispute after London mayor Sadiq Khan blocked a £50m Metropolitan police agreement for AI investigation tools.

Tom Brake, chief executive of the campaign group Unlock Democracy, said candidates should follow Cabinet Office guidance on temporary staff placements when bringing volunteers or secondees into campaigns. He called for outside interests to be declared and possible conflicts examined and addressed. Labour said its procedures had been followed:

“There are robust rules and procedures to manage any potential conflicts, whether that be in government or in campaigns.” — Labour spokesperson

Palantir said Lodestone’s work helped explain its public-service software, including through demonstrations and questions about privacy and security. The next contractual milestone is February 2027, when a break clause—a provision allowing the NHS agreement to end early—comes into play. That gives the political pressure a specific commercial deadline to watch.