It was a story we under-reported one week ago but the recruitment of the much-respected hedge fund trader Stanley Fink (estimated worth £116m) to help Tory Treasurer Michael Spencer (estimated worth over £1bn) is a huge boost to the Conservative Party. The FT certainly realised the significance of the story at the time and splashed […]
The Tory leader has told the Financial Times that he is prepared to cut the number of MPs by about sixty and will do so as a first term priority. He told the FT that “the House of Commons could do the job that it does with 10% fewer MPs without any trouble at all.” […]
ConHome is delighted that Nick Herbert has already promised fairer-sized constituency seats but the Conservatives need a bigger ‘democracy agenda’. We’ll return to this agenda on another occasion but here are three things we hope to see: End the power that big money and big unions have in the political process. By the end of […]
Highlights, not verbatim, from George Osborne’s interview on Radio 4’s World at One programme: Yatchgate: I didn’t break any rules but I did make a mistake. It didn’t look good. I regret how I operated. I will no longer be involved in party fundraising. Sterling’s slide against the dollar: There is a "flight from sterling" […]
Despite the very difficult last 48 hours the mood at a mass gathering of MPs and candidates last night for a big dinner was said to be good. The Daily Mail and Sun have both swung into action today – The Mail rightly suggesting that the potential scandal is really Peter Mandelson’s links with Oleg […]
Via PoliticsHome, the Tory leader told Channel 4 News: "I think he made absolutely the right judgement to come out very clearly and say exactly what happened and to make it very clear that at any point he did not ask for any money nor did the Conservative party receive any money – and I […]
Just released from the Shadow Chancellor’s office: "George Osborne has met Oleg Deripaska on five occasions, four of which happened over a weekend in Corfu in August. On Saturday January 26th 2008 at the Davos World Economic Forum, Mr Osborne was introduced to Mr Deripaska in the company of others including Peter Mandelson. They had […]
Guido has heard the same rumours that we have. There may be a third draft of Nathaniel Rothschild’s letter to The Times about George Osborne. The first letter that was posted on The Times’ website early yesterday evening was withdrawn and a clarifying letter posted in its place. But the second letter might not be […]
That’s what The Sunday Times is reporting: "Lord Ashcroft, the billionaire who has helped to bankroll the Tory party and is now its deputy chairman, is to leave most of his money – about £900m – to charity. It could be the biggest charitable bequest made in Britain and will be shared between causes ranging […]
A Channel 4 researcher Jenny Williams (photo from Facebook) – working for the Dispatches programme – attempted to infiltrate one of the Conservative Party’s donor clubs, Team 2000. As CCHQ carried out compliance checks they became increasingly suspicious of her true identity and eventually rumbled her. Last year the Mirror’s attempt to infiltrate the Party […]
Iain Dale has had a bit of a go at Stuart Wheeler today, accusing him of being an attention-seeker for reportedly (and let’s see the truth of it) threatening to vote UKIP in next June’s European elections if the Tories don’t beef up their Euroscepticism. A few observations: If Mr Wheeler is threatening to support […]
The latest MPs’ register of interests was published yesterday, the first since the parliamentary standards commissioner said the Conservatives must disclose who is financing their staff and research. Key findings as picked out by the Guardian are: George Osborne’s office was revealed to be receiving funds from property investor Sir John Beckwith, and Lady Serena […]
Latest figures from the Electoral Commission show that 74% of Labour’s latest declared donations of £3.4m came from the trade union movement. Francis Maude is unimpressed: "Labour is now almost entirely dependent on the unions for funding. In return, they’re getting pet policies and bungs with taxpayers’ money. This sort of cronyism undermines our entire […]
Sir Jeremy Beecham, Chair of Labour’s NEC, admitted quietly on Friday that donations to Labour had "disappeared" since the cash for peerages scandal was uncovered. He said he was considering requesting the Phillips inquiry to ask for more government money to cover Tony Blair’s security at all Party events. The Telegraph’s front page features a […]
The police investigations into party funding are getting increasingly serious: "The Tories are facing the threat of prosecution over allegations that they secretly banked a “soft” loan provided below bank rates in breach of electoral laws. The party also received loans from other supporters who did not expect them to be repaid as they would […]