Courtney Coventry

Who is Courtney Coventry?

Courtney Coventry is a socialite and actress currently living in the United States. Her maiden name is Courtney Halford; the IMDB credits her under this name for two productions in the 1990s.

Coventry gained media attention as a result of the Cash for Honours investigation in the UK in June 2007 . The Cash for Honours Investigation also known as Operation “Ribble” is the investigation concerning the connection between political donations and the award of life peerages.

Coventry was considered a valuable witness after meeting with Labour Chief fundraiser Lord Michael Levy and then Prime Minister Tony Blair on more than one occasion regarding substantial donations to the party. She was flown to UK by the Metropolitan Police at British taxpayers' expense on the day before Tony Blair was to resign from office, 26 June 2007 where she was met at London's Heathrow Airport by plainclothes police escorts. Several British newspapers including the Daily Telegraph printed stories the following day concerning Coventry's visit to the UK.

On 20 July 2007, the Crown Prosecution Service stated that it would not bring any charges against any of the individuals involved. Their decision stated that while peerages may have been given in exchange for loans, it could not find direct evidence that that had been agreed in advance; this direct evidence of an agreement in advance is what would be required for a successful prosecution. Notwithstanding the lack of any charges, members of the Labour party considered that the investigation had severely undermined Tony Blair's position, and possibly hastened his resignation as Prime Minister. However, the British Parliament Select Committee investigated this further in October 2007.