Sunday, August 08, 2021
What does the money buy?
In many ways the revelation in the Independent that just 10 wealthy people account for a quarter of all the donations made by individuals to the Conservative Party since Boris Johnson became prime minister is no great surprise. One has the impression that during Covid especially, wealthy individuals have donatd huge sums of money to the Tories, presumably hoping that they will win lucrative contracts or favours. It is up to others to judge whether that hope was realised or not.
The paper says that the 10 super-rich donors – nine of whom are men – have given a combined sum of just over £10m to the Tories since Mr Johnson entered Downing Street, more than 25 per cent of the £38.6m received from all individuals in the past two years. They add that fears have been raised about the power held by the very wealthiest Tory donors, after it emerged last week that a group known as the “advisory board” had been developed to connect the party’s biggest financial backers with ministers:
Campaign groups said The Independent’s analysis – based on the latest data from the Electoral Commission – showed the “concentrated power” of a small number of big donors.
Darren Hughes, chief executive of Electoral Reform Society said: “These figures show just how concentrated donor power is in UK politics. Political debate shouldn’t be something bought by a few very wealthy individuals.
“The fact that a small group have provided such a large amount of political funding and gained the potential influence that comes with it is of great concern.”
Calling for strict new limits on the amount donors can give, Mr Hughes added: “It’s time to fix the rot and restore faith in politics. We need to explore a cap on donations [and] greater public funding to bring us into line with most advanced democracies.”
Alex Runswick, senior advocacy manager at the Transparency International UK campaign group, added: “These revelations underline concerns that great wealth can secure a privileged audience in UK politics.
“This dependence on a small number of wealthy donors risks shaping policy and decisions in their favour rather than national interest, so the government should legislate to take big money out of politics.”
Of especial interest is that the donation data shows most of the 10 biggest individual Tory backers since Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019 made their fortune in either finance or property:
One of the 10 most generous donors is Jamie Reuben, co-owner of the Reuben Brothers property empire, who has given almost £700,000 to the Tory party thus far during the Johnson era.
His ties with the Tories came under scrutiny earlier this year, when it emerged his company was a co-investor with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) in last year’s failed bid to buy Newcastle United.
Leaked messages from September 2020 revealed that the prime minister had asked his adviser Sir Edward Lister to look into the chances of the deal being revived. When Sir Edward said that he was hopeful the deal could be done, Mr Johnson reportedly replied: “Brilliant.”
Other wealthy Tory donors on the top 10 list include online trading tycoon Peter Cruddas, who has given the party just over £870,000 in the past two years. Mr Cruddas was handed a peerage last year – sparking accusations of “cronyism” from Labour.
In June the anti-corruption campaign the Good Law Project launched legal action over the peerage, claiming that Mr Johnson ignored the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Committee against making the businessman a Lord.
The single biggest individual donor since Mr Johnson came to power is Malcom Healey – the retail tycoon whose company owns Wren Kitchens. He has handed the Tory Party £2m in the past two years.
The case for a reform of political finance grows stronger by the day.
The paper says that the 10 super-rich donors – nine of whom are men – have given a combined sum of just over £10m to the Tories since Mr Johnson entered Downing Street, more than 25 per cent of the £38.6m received from all individuals in the past two years. They add that fears have been raised about the power held by the very wealthiest Tory donors, after it emerged last week that a group known as the “advisory board” had been developed to connect the party’s biggest financial backers with ministers:
Campaign groups said The Independent’s analysis – based on the latest data from the Electoral Commission – showed the “concentrated power” of a small number of big donors.
Darren Hughes, chief executive of Electoral Reform Society said: “These figures show just how concentrated donor power is in UK politics. Political debate shouldn’t be something bought by a few very wealthy individuals.
“The fact that a small group have provided such a large amount of political funding and gained the potential influence that comes with it is of great concern.”
Calling for strict new limits on the amount donors can give, Mr Hughes added: “It’s time to fix the rot and restore faith in politics. We need to explore a cap on donations [and] greater public funding to bring us into line with most advanced democracies.”
Alex Runswick, senior advocacy manager at the Transparency International UK campaign group, added: “These revelations underline concerns that great wealth can secure a privileged audience in UK politics.
“This dependence on a small number of wealthy donors risks shaping policy and decisions in their favour rather than national interest, so the government should legislate to take big money out of politics.”
Of especial interest is that the donation data shows most of the 10 biggest individual Tory backers since Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019 made their fortune in either finance or property:
One of the 10 most generous donors is Jamie Reuben, co-owner of the Reuben Brothers property empire, who has given almost £700,000 to the Tory party thus far during the Johnson era.
His ties with the Tories came under scrutiny earlier this year, when it emerged his company was a co-investor with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) in last year’s failed bid to buy Newcastle United.
Leaked messages from September 2020 revealed that the prime minister had asked his adviser Sir Edward Lister to look into the chances of the deal being revived. When Sir Edward said that he was hopeful the deal could be done, Mr Johnson reportedly replied: “Brilliant.”
Other wealthy Tory donors on the top 10 list include online trading tycoon Peter Cruddas, who has given the party just over £870,000 in the past two years. Mr Cruddas was handed a peerage last year – sparking accusations of “cronyism” from Labour.
In June the anti-corruption campaign the Good Law Project launched legal action over the peerage, claiming that Mr Johnson ignored the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Committee against making the businessman a Lord.
The single biggest individual donor since Mr Johnson came to power is Malcom Healey – the retail tycoon whose company owns Wren Kitchens. He has handed the Tory Party £2m in the past two years.
The case for a reform of political finance grows stronger by the day.
