Conservatives fined for under-reporting donations from one of biggest donors

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox

Get our free View from Westminster email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

The Conservative Party has been fined for failing to accurately declare donations over three years.

The Electoral Commission said the Tories had under-reported non-cash donations in the form of a member of staff seconded to the party by donor Richard Harpin between April 2020 and December 2023.

Mr Harpin, founder of home repairs company HomeServe and review website Checkatrade, has been a long-time donor to the Conservatives, providing the party with almost £3 million in cash and non-cash donations since 2008.

In total, the party under-reported the donations by more than £200,000 when the employee went from part-time to full-time work, and subsequently reported a single non-cash donation relating to the same employee in December 2023.

The party paid two fines totalling £10,750 on March 6.

Louise Edwards, director of regulation and digital transformation at the Electoral Commission, said: “The political finance laws we enforce are there to ensure transparency in how parties are funded and to increase public confidence in our system, so it’s important donations are fully and clearly reported.

“Where we find offences, we carefully consider the circumstances before deciding whether to impose a sanction. We take into account a range of factors before making our final decision, including proportionality.”

The fine is the largest paid by the Conservatives since December 2021, when the party was fined £17,800 for failing to deliver an accurate quarterly donation report and failing to keep accurate accounting records.

Earlier this month The Conservative Party become embroiled in a political row after it was alleged top donor Frank Hester made racist comments about MP Diane Abbott to colleagues.

The West Yorkshire businessman reportedly said Ms Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women” and said the MP “should be shot.”

Mr Hester has made over £10 million in donations to the Conservatives over the past two years, making him the biggest donor of Rishi Sunak’s premiership. The prime minister has been urged to return the funds following the row.