Tory Foreign Office minister used official visit to Azerbaijan to promote party donor’s business

A JCB vehicle at work in India; the company is owned by the Bamford family, who have given at least £10.2m to the Conservatives. Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images

A Conservative minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office used an official visit to Azerbaijan to promote the interests of a billionaire party donor.

Leo Docherty, the Tory MP for Aldershot until 30 May, visited a showroom for JCB machinery in February 2023 and climbed behind the wheel of one the company’s diggers to “help promote UK products in Azerbaijan”. He later posted a photo on X of the visit, tagging the company’s official account.