Britain's biggest political donors

The Conservative Party is facing growing calls to hand back £10 million donated by a businessman accused of making racist remarks about former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.

The Guardian claims that Frank Hester, the chief executive of The Phoenix Partnership, told colleagues at a business meeting in 2019 that the Labour MP made him "want to hate all black women" and "should be shot".

The alleged remarks "raise questions" about the "workplace behaviour and professionalism of a man whose money will be helping to bankroll the Conservative Party's general election campaign", said the paper. Rishi Sunak said the reported comments were "racist and wrong".

It has shone a light on the, at times, opaque world of political donations in Britain. With the 2024 general election on course to be the highest-spending contest ever, here are some of the big donors of 2023.

Frank Hester – Conservatives

The West Yorkshire businessman runs healthcare technology firm The Phoenix Partnership, which has received more than £400 million from the NHS and other government bodies since 2016, "primarily to look after 60 million UK medical records", according to The Guardian.

Hester was made an OBE under David Cameron and has praised Sunak's leadership on artificial intelligence (AI), saying in a recent interview that "the future is AI and we've got a prime minister who gets it".

He donated £5 million to the Conservatives last May, followed by a similar amount from his company in November shortly after he attended the PM's landmark international AI summit. A Tory party spokesperson said this made Hester its "biggest ever donor". However, he has now come under fire for racist comments about Abbott, which she has described as "frightening".

Gary Lubner – Labour

The South African car-glass repair tycoon Gary Lubner was the highest single donor to the Labour Party last year, giving £4,577,500 according to the Electoral Commission.

The son of Jewish refugees, Lubner told the Financial Times (FT) at the time that he was been impressed by Keir Starmer's mission to rid Labour of anti-Semitism and that the "long list of Tory failures in the last 13 years" had made him committed to bankrolling the opposition, with Brexit being "top of the list".

He stepped down from his role as chief executive of Belron, the world's largest auto glass company, in March 2023, with South Africa's News 24 saying the size of his donation means the "largely unknown" Lubner is now emerging as a "key player" in British politics. It is not thought, however, that he will have an official role in either the campaign or in government if Labour wins, The Times reported. Nor is he interested in a peerage, having previously suggested the House of Lords should be abolished.

Sainsbury family – Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems

Members of the supermarket dynasty have long been among the largest and most active political donors in Britain. Last year, according to the Electoral Commission, the biggest personal donation came from a bequest from Lord John Sainsbury, a Tory peer, who left more than £10.2 million to the Conservatives after his death.

His cousin, Lord David Sainsbury of Turville, who served as science minister under Tony Blair, was consistently one of the largest donors under New Labour. An "ardent Europhile", reported the Financial Times (FT), in 2016 he gave money to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, "ringfencing the sums for the Remain side in the EU referendum as well as £4m to Britain Stronger in Europe, an anti-Brexit campaign". His donations to Labour dried up after the party moved to the left under Jeremy Corbyn but he has stepped up his funding to the party since the arrival of Keir Starmer, donating over £3 million last year. His daughter Francesca Perrin became the highest-donating woman in the party's history last year, giving over £1 million.

Mohamed Mansour – Conservatives

The Egyptian-born Mohamed Mansour gave more than £5 million to the Conservatives last year, making him one of the party's biggest-ever individual donors. A naturalised UK citizen, the self-made billionaire served as transport minister under Egypt's late President Hosni Mubarak and now heads the Mansour Group, a huge conglomerate that covers real estate and banking as well as holding Egypt's McDonald's franchise and a large supermarket chain.

An early investor in Facebook, Uber and Airbnb and co-founder of 1984 Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Mansour – like Hester – has backed Sunak's stance on AI. "I believe this country has a very capable prime minister," he wrote in The Telegraph, one who "understands how growth is generated". He also "gets the importance of technology and innovation. He can make the modern economy work for all UK citizens."

Graham Edwards – Conservatives

Tory coffers were also boosted by Graham Edwards, co-founder of Britain's biggest private property firm Telereal Trillium, who donated more than £4 million last year, said The Telegraph. "He said that he had decided to hand over the cash to help keep a hard-Left Labour government out of power," reported the paper.

Amit Lohia – Conservatives

Another Tory donor who donated large sums last year was Amit Lohia of the manufacturer Indorama Corporation. The tycoon is "nicknamed the 'Prince of Polyester'", said the Daily Mirror. He gave the party £2 million in March 2023.

Dale Vince – Labour

Labour received over £1 million from green energy supplier Ecotricity, founded by Dale Vince, last year. A controversial figure, Vince has been "condemned in the rightwing press as a hippy turned eco-tycoon who donates thousands of pounds to Just Stop Oil – and even more to the Labour Party", said The Guardian.