Prominent PR firm accused of commissioning favourable changes to Wikipedia pages

Fri, 16 Jan 2026

Portland Communications, founded by Keir Starmer’s communications chief, linked to so-called black hat edits

A high-profile PR company founded by Keir Starmer’s communications chief has been accused of commissioning changes to Wikipedia pages to make them more favourable towards clients.

Portland Communications, founded by Tim Allan, has been linked to the so-called black hat edits, sometimes referred to as “Wikilaundering”. Several changes were made to Wikipedia pages by a network of editors, allegedly controlled by a contractor working on Portland’s behalf.