Tories accepted £50,000 donation from agency linked to jailed billionaire
The Tories accepted £50,000 from a company linked to a billionaire who was jailed for exploiting domestic staff, it has emerged.
New figures reveal the party accepted the sum from Westminster Development Services on July 1. The company is 50% owned by AMC Project services, which is itself owned by one of Britain’s richest men, Prakash Hinduja.
Hinduja and three members of his family were jailed by a court in Switzerland last month after being convicted of exploiting workers at their mansion in Geneva. Hinduja and his wife Kamal were sentenced to four years and six months in prison.
Their son Ajay and his wife Namrata were jailed for four years. They were found guilty of exploiting workers and providing unauthorised employment.
But charges of human trafficking were dismissed. The Hindujas’ lawyers said they planned to appeal. A Conservative Party spokeswoman said: “Donations to the Conservative Party are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, openly published by them, and comply fully with the law.”
Figures released by the Electoral Commission confirmed that the Conservatives struggled to raise funds throughout the election. They received just £225,587 in the last week of the campaign – less than half the sum given to Labour.
In total, the Tories received just £1.8 million in private donations, around a fifth of the £9.5 million raised by Labour as it secured its commanding majority. In the last week of the campaign, Labour raised £465,600, including a £250,000 donation from former professional poker player Derek Webb.
Mr Webb, now a proponent of tighter gambling regulations, had previously donated £550,000 to the party under Keir Starmer’s leadership. Labour also received £100,000 donations from both the GMB trade union and the Fire Brigades Union in the last week of the campaign.
The Liberal Democrats managed to raise £1.7 million over the course of the campaign, boosted by a £100,000 donation in the final week from food business GADF Holdings. Reform UK raised a total of £1.6 million over the campaign, including £45,000 in the final week thanks in part to a £20,000 donation from businesswoman Margaret Hepburn, who lives in Monaco.
Political parties are required to provide weekly reports of donations of more than £11,180, after the Government increased the threshold from £7,500 in January. Parties still have 30 days after receiving a donation to check that it is from a permissible source and decide whether to accept it.
