THE Conservative Party is facing questions over its decision to keep more than £15m given by its biggest ever donor, Frank Hester, after former employees made a series of fresh allegations.
Hester is alleged to have referred to a staff member as the “token Muslim”, imitated people of Chinese descent and remarked that one individual was attractive for a black woman, according to former employees who spoke to the Guardian.
The Guardian reported that more than a dozen former staffers claimed that Hester repeatedly made comments about race or religion in the workplace or on a work trip, including in recent years.
The claims will put increasing pressure on Rishi Sunak after it was confirmed on Thursday that Hester had given a further £5m to the Tories through his healthcare tech company, the Phoenix Partnership (TPP).
It brings the total donated by Hester to more than £15m in a year, equating to more than 40% of the total national spending limit for each party in the general election.
Hester did not respond to the claims when approached by the Guardian.
In relation to the new claims, a Conservative spokesperson said the party considered the matter “resolved” as Hester had previously apologised for past remarks about Diane Abbott, which were widely condemned as racist and misogynistic.
Earlier this year, Sunak resisted calls to return the £10m Hester and his firm initially donated, with one of his ministers saying the 2019 comments were made “half a decade ago”.
But in the past six months, former TPP staff have spoken about Hester’s alleged workplace behaviour over a number of years.
Two ex-employees described Hester talking about an individual at a hotel in 2021 and saying she was attractive for a black woman. The comment was allegedly made during a work trip in London.
Other former workers claimed Hester would use a Chinese accent and squint his eyes to narrow them in order to imitate people of Chinese heritage while at TPP’s headquarters in Leeds.
Five ex-employees also alleged Hester referred repeatedly to one worker as the “token Muslim” for several years up to around 2016, owing to him being one of the only Muslims who worked at TPP at the time.
Three former workers spoke of Hester having asked for “brown” people to go on a work trip to India in late 2013 to early 2014.
In March, we told how Hester had told colleagues that seeing Abbott, Britain’s longest-standing black MP, on TV made “you want to hate all black women”.
He later apologised for making “rude” remarks but denied they were motivated by race or gender, saying he “abhorred racism”.
The revelation led to cross-party calls for Sunak to return £10m in donations from Hester, which had been made public at that time.
West Yorkshire police launched an investigation into “racist comments which were allegedly made at a meeting” by Hester, after it received a complaint from Abbott.
The force confirmed this week the inquiry was ongoing.
