Good afternoon. In March, the Guardian revealed that the Conservatives’ biggest donor, Frank Hester, had said to colleagues that looking at Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women”. The party responded by arguing that although his remarks were abhorrent, he had apologised. They stuck to their line this morning, when it was confirmed that they had accepted £5m more than was known at the time – and took £150,000 from Hester’s company after the comments came to light. But in the last hour, that position has come under severe strain.
Rowena Mason, Henry Dyer and Matthew Weaver have reported a series of other allegations about Hester from former employees, including claims that he imitated people of Chinese descent and referred to a staff member as the “token Muslim”. Hester has not responded to the claims - but the Conservatives say that they consider the matter resolved.
