THE Tories accepted a donation from Frank Hester after he was accused of making racist comments about Labour’s Diane Abbott.
The controversial Tory donor – who allegedly said in 2019 Ms Abbott “should be shot”- gave £5m to the party through his company back January.
Diane Abbott said Frank Hester’s latest donation was an insult to ‘all black women’PA
AFPPrime Minister Rishi Sunak[/caption]
Electoral Commission records also show another donation of £150,000 was formally accepted by the Tories on 14 March.
With the £10 million injected into the party’s coffers last year, it takes his total donations to more than £15 million.
Ms Abbott slammed said the cash injection was an “insult to all black women”.
It was reported in March that Mr Hester told his staff in 2019 that Ms Abbott – who in 1987 became the first black woman elected to Parliament – made him want to “hate all black women” and “should be shot”.
The £150,000 donation was accepted the day after Rishi Sunak came under fire for his handling of the fallout from the remarks as he initially failed to brand them as “racist”.
The PM eventually did condemn them as such but said the tech boss’s “remorse should be accepted” and resisted calls to return the money.
Mr Hester admitted making “rude” comments about Ms Abbott, but claimed they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
In response to his latest donation, Ms Abbott wrote on X: “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.”
Labour 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.”
Cabinet minister Mel Stride this morning declined to say whether the Conservatives should return the donations but a Tory spokesman reiterated the matter is resolved.
The spokesman said: “Mr Hester has rightly apologised for comments made in the past. As Mr Hester has apologised and shown contrition 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.”
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