A recent connection has surfaced involving Martha Dalton, a lobbyist for the controversial US tech firm Palantir, who played a significant role in Andy Burnham’s journey to becoming prime minister. Dalton’s company, Lodestone, collaborated with Palantir during 2024 and 2025 and was instrumental in supporting Burnham during the Makerfield byelection, which facilitated his return to parliament. She was actively engaged with Burnham’s team in crafting strategic communications and counterarguments, and she was among the supporters who welcomed him to Downing Street in July.
Lodestone, co-founded by Dalton, worked on various initiatives for Palantir, including promoting its technology at parliamentary events where its engineers showcased AI-driven systems intended for British public services to Members of Parliament.
Prior to her involvement with Burnham, Dalton contributed to Lucy Powell’s deputy leadership campaign in autumn 2025, shortly after Lodestone concluded its partnership with Palantir.
This revelation comes as Palantir seeks to maintain its £330 million contract with NHS England for managing the federated data platform, a comprehensive national medical data system. Burnham’s administration faces mounting pressure to terminate this agreement due to public outcry over Palantir’s associations with the Israeli military in Gaza and its role in Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies. Concerns have also been raised—acknowledged by NHS England’s chief executive, Jim Mackey—regarding the actual public health benefits of the platform, which may be overstated.
The connection between Lodestone’s work for Palantir and Dalton’s subsequent involvement with Burnham is the latest instance linking Labour to the tech company, which also serves the US and UK military and was co-founded by Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire known for supporting Trump.
Recently, Labour peer Tom Watson accepted a full-time lobbying position with Palantir after serving on Lodestone’s “strategic advisory council.” Previously, Palantir had engaged Peter Mandelson’s lobbying firm, Global Counsel, until it was dissolved due to Mandelson’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
On her LinkedIn profile, Dalton expressed her pride in working on Burnham’s campaign for Labour leadership and the prime ministership. She took six weeks of unpaid leave from Lodestone to assist in Makerfield, focusing on strategic communications and rebuttals.
A spokesperson for Lodestone stated that during her leave, Dalton had no contact with clients and participated because she believes Burnham is the ideal leader for both the Labour Party and the nation. The firm had previously collaborated with Palantir on various projects aimed at helping the company clarify its technology to those who hold them accountable.
During the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, health workers advocating for the cancellation of Palantir’s NHS contract staged protests. Earlier, Labour members had introduced a motion to terminate the deal, citing numerous allegations of the company’s involvement in severe human rights violations, particularly related to its technology development for Israel’s military.
Louis Mosley, Palantir’s executive vice-president for the UK and Europe, stated that their technology was utilized for locating hostages rather than identifying military targets in Gaza. This seems to contradict an earlier comment by the company’s CEO, Alex Karp, who, when confronted by a protester claiming that “Palantir kills Palestinians” in Gaza, responded, “Mostly terrorists, that’s true.”
Palantir’s prospects in the UK are closely linked to the Labour government, with a break clause in the NHS England contract coming into effect in February 2027. Additionally, Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, is engaged in legal proceedings against Palantir after he prevented the Metropolitan Police from awarding the company a £50 million contract for AI tools to support criminal investigations. The firm also holds a £240 million contract with the Ministry of Defence and has been marketing its services to various police departments and local authorities.
Recently, Mosley remarked that individuals who fail to recognize the beneficial impact of the firm’s technology on reducing treatment wait times and expediting hospital discharges are suffering from “Palantir derangement syndrome.”
Tom Brake, chief executive of Unlock Democracy, a non-profit advocacy group, advised candidates to adhere to Cabinet Office guidelines regarding secondments before adding volunteers or secondees to their campaign teams. He emphasized the need for successful secondees to disclose relevant external interests, ensure that potential conflicts are addressed, and implement appropriate mitigations.
A Labour spokesperson affirmed, “There are stringent rules and procedures in place to manage potential conflicts, whether in government or during campaigns, and those protocols were followed.”
A representative from Palantir commented, “Lodestone has collaborated with us on numerous projects aimed at illustrating how our software is utilized to deliver public services, such as parliamentary events that allow MPs to witness software demonstrations and engage with our engineers regarding data privacy and security.”
