Labour MP Diane Abbott has accused the Conservatives of “paying lip service to fighting racism” after it accepted another £5m donation from controversial businessman Frank Hester.
The chief executive of The Phoenix Partnership, who has now given £15m to the party since 2023, found himself at the centre of a scandal in March after reportedly saying Ms Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and that “she should be shot”.
A spokesperson for Mr Hester later admitted he had made “rude” comments about Ms Abbott, but insisted they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
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The remarks were widely condemned by politicians of all stripes, with the then prime minister Rishi Sunak calling them “racist and wrong”.
However, he and other Tory ministers resisted calls to return the donations to Mr Hester, saying the CEO had “apologised genuinely for his comments and that remorse should be accepted”.
Sky News reported in March that Mr Hester was in talks with the party to donate a further £5m, despite being embroiled in the row.
Now it has emerged through data released by the Electoral Commission that the money was handed over on 17 May – five days before Mr Sunak called the general election.
Ms Abbott told Sky News the revelation was “shocking”, adding: “Even Rishi Sunak had admitted reluctantly that Hester’s remarks were racist. But they still took his money.
“It shows that the Tories only pay lip service to fighting racism.”
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The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats Daisy Cooper also said the Tory party should “hang its head in shame for taking yet more money from this disgraced donor”.
The MP called on the four candidates running to replace Mr Sunak as Conservative leader to “make it clear [their party] does not tolerate these racist remarks, that they will refuse any future donations from Hester and hand back all the money he has given to the party”.
Sky News has approached both the Conservative Party and Mr Hester for comment.
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The Electoral Commission’s data also showed Labour raised £10m more than their Tory rivals in the three months before the election.
The now ruling party received £26.1m between April and June, compared to £16.1m for the Conservatives, £5.3m for the Liberal Democrats, and £2.6m for Reform.
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Labour’s largest donor was hedge fund Quadrature Capital, which gave the party £4m on 28 May, followed by £2.5m from long-time donor Lord David Sainsbury, and £2.1m from Ecotricity – the energy firm owned by environmental campaigner Dale Vince.
The SNP managed to raise £259,481 in the run-up to July’s vote, while the Green Party received £238,851 in donations.
