Conservative Party Receives £50,000 Donation from Firm Linked to Convicted Billionaire Prakash Hinduja, Electoral Commission Figures Show
The Electoral Commission has released new figures showing that the Conservative Party received a donation of £50,000 from a firm connected to convicted billionaire businessman Prakash Hinduja. The Tories gained a total of £225,587 from private donors in the last week of the general election campaign, bringing their overall donations to £1.8 million.
The largest single donation came from a company called Westminster Development Services, according to Companies House records. This property consortium is reported to be up to 50% owned by AMC Project Services Limited, which lists Mr. Hinduja as its owner. Mr. Hinduja was recently sentenced to jail in Switzerland for exploiting domestic workers at his mansion in Geneva, along with three of his family members.
Although the Hinduja family members were cleared of more serious charges of human trafficking linked to their servants, they were still sentenced to between four and four-and-a-half years in prison. Their lawyers have stated that they plan to appeal this decision.
A spokesperson for the Conservative Party stated that all donations to the party are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission and comply fully with the law. Sky News has reached out to Westminster Development Services for comment.
In other news, the Electoral Commission also revealed that during the last week of the campaign between 27 June and 4 July, Labour received more than double the amount of donations compared to the Tories. The party received £465,600 in those final days, bringing their total campaign donations to £9.5 million.
The largest donor to Labour in the last week was former professional poker player Derek Webb, who gave the party £250,000. The GMB and Fire Brigades Union each donated £100,000. The Liberal Democrats also received £156,203 in the final week of the campaign, with £100,000 coming from food business GADF Holdings. Reform UK also received donations of £45,000, with £25,000 donated by businessman Philip Hulme.
Under election rules, registered political parties are required to submit four weekly reports detailing donations and loans above £11,180.
