Oh dear. As election campaigns ramp up, the Tories have found themselves in another spot of trouble. It transpires today that the Conservatives accepted another £5 million donation from donor Frank Hester — the Yorkshire businessman who back in March was condemned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for his ‘wrong’ and ‘racist’ remarks about Labour politician Diane Abbott. Talk about a lack of contrition…
Hester faced intense criticism after it emerged he had told colleagues at work that looking at Abbott makes ‘you just want to hate all black women because she’s there’ and that ‘she should be shot’. The Tories were hesitant to condemn the remarks at first — and, it turns out, even more hesitant to return the £10 million which he donated to the party last year. Compounding the scandal was the Guardian’s revelation that Hester’s healthcare technology firm the Phoenix Partnership (TPP) donated a further £150,000 to the Tories — a sum accepted just days after the story broke. Richard Holden, the party’s chairman, was decidedly cagey about whether the Tories would be returning the money, saying: ‘Mr Hester apologised fully for his comments at the time and I think if people have apologised then we should accept that, when they’ve clearly made a major contrition. I can’t comment on individual donations. It would be inappropriate.’
And it appears that Hester’s donations to the Conservatives account for almost half of the national spending limit of £34 million that each political party is allowed in the general election. So far, the Tories have reported £8,836,834 in donations during the first quarter of 2024 — more than any other UK party. The revelations will likely result in more calls for the Tories to return the funds. But will they denounce their biggest donor at this point in their campaign? Stay tuned…
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