THE Conservative Party have accepted another £5 million from Frank Hester, the businessman accused of saying Labour’s Diane Abbott “should be shot”, new figures show.
Electoral Commission data released on Thursday showed the payments from Hester’s healthcare software firm, the Phoenix Partnership, in January, before he became embroiled in a row over the alleged racist comments.
He also handed the Tories £10m last year, taking the the total from the party’s biggest donor to £15m.
Abbott said the latest donation was “an insult to me and all black women”.
It was reported in March that the Conservative backer said in 2019 that Abbott – who in 1987 became the first black woman elected to Parliament – made him want to “hate all black women” and “should be shot”.
Rishi Sunak came under fire for his handling of the fallout from the remarks.
The Prime Minister eventually condemned the remarks as “racist” but resisted calls to return the money, saying the tech boss’s “remorse should be accepted”.
Hester admitted making “rude” comments about Abbott, but claimed they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
In response to his latest donation, Abbott tweeted: “Rishi Sunak belatedly admitted Frank Hester’s remarks that ‘I made him hate all black woman and should be shot’ were racist.
“Now it turns out Sunak accepted a further £5m from him.
“An insult to me and all black women.”
Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds said: “Rishi Sunak has proven he is a man with no integrity.
“He is too weak to return the money donated by a man who has made violent, misogynist, and racist remarks which belong nowhere near our politics.
“If Rishi Sunak had a backbone he’d have cut ties with Frank Hester months ago, returned the money and apologised properly to Diane Abbott.”
Tory minister Mel Stride suggested that it was entirely acceptable for his party to accept the donation because Hester had shown remorse.
“I’m not going to get drawn in those kind of issues,” Stride told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“I believe that Mr Hester has shown considerable remorse since making those remarks, which were utterly unacceptable.”
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Mr Hester (below) has rightly apologised for comments made in the past. As Mr Hester has apologised and shown contrition we consider the matter resolved.
“The Conservative Party is funded by membership, fundraising and donations.
"All reportable donations are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law. Indeed, such observations can be made about who our donors are, precisely because our donations are transparently published.
“Fundraising is a legitimate part of the democratic process.”
The legal charity Good Law Project has previously requested details of the Prime Minister's meetings with Hester.
However, Downing Street has said it has no "official information" about any of their interactions.
Director of the Good Law Project Jo Maugham said: “To take a further £5m from Frank Hester, who has made appalling, violent, racist comments, marks the Conservative Party as without shame. The Tories will unabashedly sell influence to anyone.
“Whilst Frank Hester funds helicopter rides for the prime minister and boasts of their cosy chats, Rishi Sunak refuses to reveal how much influence his millions have secured. It is time he came clean on the nature of their relationship.”
Meanwhile, the SNP have called on the Scottish Conservatives to reveal if they have ever received money from Hester.
The SNP candidate for East Renfrewshire, Kirsten Oswald, said: "The Conservatives must donate every last penny of Frank Hester's money to an anti-racism charity – and do so without delay.
"All forms of racism and discrimination are abhorrent and have no place in our society – so what does it say if a political party looking to form the next Government are happy to accept donations from a disgraced racist donor.
"Diane Abbott has already been put through more than enough in this campaign – with her own Labour Party trying to block her candidacy and the Tories accepting millions in donations from someone who racially abused her.
"For once in their life, the Conservatives must put morals before money and donate all of the money given to them by Mr Hester to an anti-racism charity.
"The Scottish Tories must also declare if they too have received any donations from Mr Hester over the years, and hand back any money received."
