The Conservatives are facing a major donations backlash today after it was confirmed the party has taken a new £5million gift from race-row super-donor Frank Hester.
Mr Hester was at the centre of a scandal earlier this year after it was revealed he made an outburst about Labour leftwing MP Diane Abbott, saying shemade him 'hate all black women' and 'should be shot'.
Electoral Commission figures confirmed today that Mr Hester, who had already given the Tories £10million, has made new donations totalling £5million this year.
The party defended accepting the cash from his Leeds-based firm, The Phoenix Partnership (TPP), saying he 'hadapologised and shown contrition and we consider the matter resolved'.
But Ms Abbott slammed the decision this morning, saying it was'an insult to me and all black women.'
The donations data also revealed that Labour received £180,000 from the artist Sir Grayson Perry.
It has also been handed £5million from former Extinction Rebellion funder Dale Vince.
Mr Hester was at the centre of a scandal earlier this year after it was revealed he made an outburst about Labour leftwing MP Diane Abbott, saying she made him 'hate all black women' and 'should be shot'.
Ms Abbott slammed the decision this morning, saying it was 'an insult to me and all black women.'
Healthcare entrepreneur Hester, the Tories' biggest individual donor, is said to have made the comments about veteran left-wing MP Ms Abbot during a diatribe in 2019 at the headquarters of TPP.
In comments first reported by the Guardian, he is alleged to have said in a meeting at his Leeds company headquarters: 'It's like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you're just like… you just want to hate all black women because she's there.
'And I don't hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot.'
At the time the Conservatives were very cagey, amid rumours of another £5million handout, refusing to confirm or deny that it had been received.
Electoral Commission data released on Thursday showed the payments from TPP in January.
He also handed the Tories £10 million last year, bringing the total from the party's biggest donor to £15 million.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: 'Mr Hester has rightly apologised for comments made in the past. As Mr Hester has apologised and shown contrition and we consider the matter resolved.
'The Conservative Party is funded by membership, fundraising and donations. All reportable donations are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law. Indeed, such observations can be made about who our donors are, precisely because our donations are transparently published.
'Fundraising is a legitimate part of the democratic process. The alternative is taxpayer-funding of political campaigning, which would mean less money for frontline services like schools and hospitals–or being in the pocket of the trade unions, like the Labour Party.'
ButMs Abbott tweeted: 'Rishi Sunak belatedly admitted Frank Hester's remarks that 'I made him hate all black woman and should be shot' were racist.
'Now it turns out Sunak accepted a further £5 million from him. An insult to me and all black women.'
The donations data also revealed that Labour received £180,000 from the artist Sir Grayson Perry.
It has also been handed £5million from former Extinction Rebellion funder Dale Vince.
AndLabour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said: 'Rishi Sunak has proven he is a man with no integrity.
'He is too weak to return the money donated by a man who has made violent, misogynist, and racist remarks which belong nowhere near our politics.
'If Rishi Sunak had a backbone he'd have cut ties with Frank Hester months ago, returned the money and apologised properly to Diane Abbott.'
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said:'How low can Rishi Sunak's Conservatives go? If the Conservatives spend this money they will be proudly funded by a man who made the most appalling racist and sexist comments.
'Ultimately the buck stops with Rishi Sunak. Sunak must personally intervene and make sure not a penny of this money is spent.'
In March MrHester, who reportedly made the comments five years ago, said he was 'deeply sorry' for being 'rude' about the Labour veteran, but denied that his comments were related to her skin colour or her gender.
Senior Tories initially declined to describe the comments as racist, instead saying they were 'inappropriate' - until trade secretary Kemi Badenoch broke ranks to decry the comments as 'racist' in storming posts on X.
Cabinet minister Mel Stride refused to say whether the Conservatives should return the donations today.
'I'm not going to get drawn in those kind of issues,' he told ITV's Good Morning Britain.
'I believe that Mr Hester has shown considerable remorse since making those remarks, which were utterly unacceptable.'
Meanwhile, Labour accepted another £1.5 million from major donor Dale Vince's company Ecotricity, according to the Electoral Commission data for the first quarter of 2024.
The green energy industrialist was criticised in March by deputy party leader Angela Rayner for saying 'one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter' when asked about Hamas, the militant group that carried out the October 7 attacks on Israel.
But Mr Vince, a significant contributor to Labour's war chest, said a 'doctored' clip that gave a 'false impression' of his Times Radio interview last year was part of a 'right-wing smear' designed to 'distract from the row' over Mr Hester.
UK political parties reported accepting some £22.9 million in donations and public funds in the first three months of the year, up from £20.9 million in the same period in 2023, according to the Electoral Commission.
Louise Edwards, director of regulation and digital transformation, said: 'It is common to see donations to political parties grow ahead of an expected - and now scheduled - General Election. They reached £22 million in the opening quarter of the year.'
She added that the figures reflect the change to reporting thresholds, under which parties must, since the beginning of the year, report donations over £11,180 to the Commission.
'While there is no limit to the amount that parties can raise, there are spending limits in place for campaigning ahead of elections,' she said.
