The Conservative Party accepted a further donation from Frank Hester, after he had been accused of making racist comments about Labour’s Diane Abbott. The businessman donated £150,000 to the party through his healthcare software company, The Phoenix Partnership, on 8 March.
The donation was then formally accepted by the Tories on 14 March, according to the Electoral Commission.
New figures released by the commission also confirm he donated £5m in January, before he became embroiled in the row. Mr Hester previously made £10m of donations to the Conservatives last year.
In March – after the latest £5m was donated but before it was known about – the tech boss was thrust to the centre of a political controversy after claims he made comments to staff saying that Ms Abbott “should be shot”.
The £150,000 donation was accepted the day after Rishi Sunak faced a volley of criticism at prime minister’s questions about Mr Hester. He condemned the alleged comments as “wrong” and “racist” but made clear that the Conservatives would not return Mr Hester’s money.
Mr Hester apologised for making “rude” comments about Ms Abbott but said his remarks “had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”. He declined to comment when approached by the BBC about the latest donations.Ms Abbott accused Mr Sunak of “pure hypocrisy” for accepting donations from Mr Hester.
“If he really objected to Hester’s remarks Sunak would not still be taking his money,” she told the BBC.
Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said: “Rishi Sunak has proven he is a man with no integrity.
“He is too weak to return the money donated by a man who has made violent, misogynist, and racist remarks which belong nowhere near our politics. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “How low can Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives go? If the Conservatives spend this money they will be proudly funded by a man who made the most appalling racist and sexist comments.
“Ultimately the buck stops with Rishi Sunak. Sunak must personally intervene and make sure not a penny of this money is spent. A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Mr Hester has rightly apologised for comments made in the past. As Mr Hester has apologised and shown contrition and we consider the matter resolved. Mr Hester was by far the Conservatives’ biggest donor in the first quarter of 2024.
The next biggest was Sir Peter Wood, the founder of Direct Line, who gave the party £500,000. Other notable donors include the businessmen Lord Hintze and Lord Ashcroft, who each donated £50,000. In the same period Labour received £1.6m from Ecotricity, the company controlled by Dale Vince, taking his recent donations to the Labour Party to around £4m.
Mr Vince attracted controversy last year after it emerged he had also donated to Just Stop Oil. He stopped funding the campaign group in October, saying their protests were “counterproductive”. Labour also accepted £700,000 from the hedge fund manager Martin Taylor. Away from the business world, the party received £180,000 from Grayson Perry and £85,000 from Maggi Hambling, both artists.
Source: BBC
In other news – Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross to stand in election
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross is to stand in the general election. Mr Ross’s surprise announcement came after the party effectively de-selected David Duguid as the Conservative candidate in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East. Mr Duguid, who is unwell, was the MP for Banff and Buchan since 2017.
Mr. Ross was supposed to be standing down from Westminster at this election to concentrate on his job as an MSP ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election campaign. Read more
