JK Rowling has made a surprise intervention in the race to become Labour’s deputy leader by making a donation to the campaign fund of MP Tom Watson.

It is the first time the best-selling creator of Harry Potter has given money to an individual politician. According to Watson’s declaration to the register of members’ interests, he received £4,000 from her in May.



The money will be seen as a boost, and a sprinkling of stardust, on Watson’s bid for the high-profile and influential party role. He is seen as one of the strongest candidates among a crowded field of seven.

Tom Watson is the Labour MP for West Bromwich East. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

The pair are believed to have become acquainted during the campaign to uncover phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World. Both were witnesses at the Leveson inquiry into press intrusion.

According to the entry, which was sent to the registrar last week, Watson received £4,000 from “Joanne Rowling” on 11 May. This is the same name that she used to donate £1m to Labour in 2008, her only other donation to a party or politician.

Rowling told the Leveson inquiry that her personal details were “blagged” by someone on behalf of a newspaper. She also said that her children had been photographed and that a reporter had slipped a note into her then five-year-old son’s schoolbag.

The Silkworm, Rowling’s second crime thriller released last year under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith, included references to phone hacking by a journalist.

Watson, the MP for West Bromwich East, was at the forefront of the campaign to uncover hacking at News International newspapers after his own phone was hacked. He memorably questioned Rupert Murdoch about alleged criminal activity by his newspapers in front of a parliamentary committee and wrote a book about it.

Last month, Watson launched a crowdfunding effort to raise £25,000 for his bid to become deputy leader. On Friday it stood at just over £18,800.



Watson’s critics from the right of the party have claimed that he is too close to the Unite union and it’s leader, Len McCluskey. He resigned as deputy chair of the party in July 2013 after the row over the selection of a Labour candidate for Falkirk.

Rowling donated £1m last June to the campaign against Scottish independence after warning that it could be a “historically bad mistake” to leave the UK.

A spokesman for Watson told the Guardian: “Tom’s delighted that JK Rowling has made a generous donation to his deputy leadership campaign. She is obviously a hugely talented and successful author but she is also a tireless campaigner for a range of charities and causes, particularly those that work on behalf of women and children around the world.”

A spokesperson for Rowling declined to comment.