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Disgraced Tory donor Frank Hester gave the Conservative Party £5m just days before Rishi Sunak called the general election, it has emerged.
The Tories faced widespread calls in March to hand back money given to them by the business tycoon after he was alleged to have said that Diane Abbott – Britain’s first Black female MP – made him “want to hate all Black women” and that she “should be shot”.
Despite Mr Sunak eventually condemning the remarks as racist, newly published Electoral Commission data shows Mr Hester’s Phoenix Partnership firm donated a further £5m to the Conservatives on 17 May – just five days before Mr Sunak called the election, months earlier than widely expected.
It takes the total which Mr Hester has donated to the Tory party to more than £20m over the past two years, making him the party’s largest donor.
Ms Abbott told The Independent she was “shocked that the Tories are taking money from Frank Hester, when even they admitted his remarks were racist”, adding: “They should be ashamed. It demonstrates that they are not serious about opposing racism and it may also mean they are desperate for money.”
In a statement following reporting of his remarks, Mr Hester said in a statement that he “accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbot in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
It added: “The Guardian is right when it quotes Frank saying he abhors racism, not least because he experienced it as the child of Irish immigrants in the 1970’s. He rang Diane Abbott twice today to try to apologise directly for the hurt he has caused her, and is deeply sorry for his remarks.
“He wishes to make it clear that he regards racism as a poison which has no place in public life.”
Ms Abbott previously described his remarks as “frightening”, saying: “I live in Hackney, I don’t drive, so I find myself, at weekends, popping on a bus or even walking places, more than most MPs. I am a single woman and that makes me vulnerable anyway. But to hear someone talking like this is worrying.”
She added: “For all of my career as an MP I have thought it important not to live in a bubble but to mix and mingle with ordinary people. The fact that two MPs have been murdered in recent years makes talk like this all the more alarming.”
The sum donated on 17 May dwarfs the total raised by the Conservatives from other donors in the weeks after the 4 July election was called, with just 30 donors giving a total of £1.2m, according to Sky News. That compared with 275 donors in 2019 who gave a total of £19.4m, which was down a third from the 2017 election.
According to the Electoral Commission, the Conservative Party received £16.1m in the three months to June, compared with £28.5m given to the Labour Party and £5.7m to the Lib Dems.
The Phoenix Partnership – a healthcare software firm – first donated more than £150,000 in February and March 2023, before following this up with £5m in November and a further £5m in January, prior to the £5m donated in May.
Mr Hester also personally donated £5m in May 2023, and in November the firm gifted Mr Sunak the use of a helicopter for a political visit, valued at £15,900.
Shortly after Mr Hester’s comments were reported, The Independent revealed that Ms Abbott had filed a complaint with the Metropolitan Police’s parliamentary liaison and investigations team, which was later passed to West Yorkshire Police as a result of the meeting having taken place in Horsforth, Leeds.
The force said in March that officers were “working to establish the facts and to ultimately ascertain whether a crime has been committed”, and a spokesperson said on Thursday that its enquiries were ongoing.
