Tory dependence on City money should come as no surprise

It was reveled this morning that more than half of Tory funds come from the City – double the proportion it was when David Cameron became leader. Research by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that £11.4 million of the Conservative party’s £22.5m total cash donations last year came from the financial services industry – 50.79 per cent; this compares to £2.75m out of £11.1m (24.67%) when Mr Cameron became Tory leader.

Conservative-Party-dependence-on-financial-services-industry
So who are these rich men pumping millions into the Tory party? And why are they doing it? Looking at the kid-glove approach of Messieurs Osborne and Cameron to the City, from the limp banking levy to their failure to take action on bonuses, coupled with the revelation last week that, in opposition, they were encouraging the Labour government to deregulate further, the latter may be obvious.

The BIJ names the ten biggest donors as:

1. David Rowland – (Financier, £4,031,016);

2. Michael Farmer (Hedge Fund) – £2,973,850;

3. Stanley Fink (Hedge Fund) – £1,945,141;

4. Michael Hintze (Hedge Fund) – £1,235,000;

5. Paul Adrian Beecroft (Private Equity) – £537,076;

6. James Lyle (Hedge Fund) – £500,000;

7. Jonathan Wood (Hedge Fund) – £500,000;

8. Peter J Hall (Investment Fund) – £493,540;

9. George M Magan (Banker & Investment Fund) – £485,000;

10. Paul Ruddock (Hedge Fund) – £465,000.

To regular readers of Left Foot Forward, many of these names will be familiar. Last August, we looked at the case of David Rowland, a multi-millionaire tax exile, who was being lined up to succeed Tory Tax dodger Lord Ashcroft as party Treasurer.

Ben Fox reported:

“Rowland, who is estimated to be worth £730 million, had lived in tax-haven Guernsey, but returned to the UK for the past year so he could legally make donations of £2.7m to the Tory party in the run up to this year’s election…

“No doubt when he returns from his ‘austerity’ holiday, David Cameron will be at pains to remind Britons that ‘we’re all in this together’. But the Tories’ obsession with appointing tax avoiders to high-profile positions exposes the hollowness of Cameron’s lofty words.”

And of the litany of hedge fund managers lining Tory coffers, their dispute with the Financial Services Authority and Osborne’s battle to block hedge fund regulation, Claire French reported in September:

“Hedge fund managers and prominent donors to the Conservative party have also been at loggerheads with the FSA, among them Jon Wood, who donated £500,000 to the Party and is undertaking legal action against the FSA, according to the Daily Mail…

“Another hedge fund tycoon, Stanley Fink, was made co-treasurer of the Conservative Party having raised and donated considerable amounts of money for the party. Earlier this year, Left Foot Forward reported that Conservative Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) had voted against acting on the Domenici report on ‘Promoting Good Governance in Tax Matters 2009/2174(INI)’.

“Earlier this summer, Sir Philip Green was appointed as an ‘efficiency tsar’ by the Chancellor to help find savings. As Left Foot Forward’s Will Straw has pointed out, Sir Philip saved himself £300 million by partly moving to Monaco. Tax-exile Lord Laidlaw donated £100,000 to the party since announcing a ‘leave of absence’ whilst changing his tax status from nom-dom to British taxpayer. Before his change of heart, he had already donated an amount thought to be in the region of £4 million since 2005…

“And then there is Lord Ashcroft, who has reportedly donated £5.1 million to the party whilst registered in Belize. Earlier this year he revealed his nom-dom status…

“Each of these cases shows the potential of big money to exert influence on senior figures in the Conservative Party. None of these donations are illegal, but questions will be raised over why people with such vested interests are handing over huge sums of money, and in the having seen Conservative MEPs vote against a clamp down on tax dodgers and Mr Osborne’s fight to block European regulation of hedge funds, one must ask: cui bono?”

In the words of the prime minister himself:

“My father was a stockbroker, my grandfather was a stockbroker, my great-grandfather was a stockbroker… The City is in my blood.”

http://twitter.com/originalbigpaws/status/35311457826639872 AJM

RT @leftfootfwd: Tory dependence on City money should come as no surprise: http://bit.ly/hVg3My writes @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/anubeon/status/35311534213169153 Lee Hyde

RT @leftfootfwd: Tory dependence on City money should come as no surprise: http://bit.ly/hVg3My writes @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/sassy24/status/35315149581586432 Thelma Azolukwam

Tory dependence on City cash doubles since Cameron takes over http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/02/tory-links-to-city-exposed/
http://twitter.com/imoneyincome/status/35317428267257856 Survey Money Income

Tory dependence on City money should come as no surprise http://bit.ly/gNVMgv
13eastie

And yet none of the Tory donors has succeeded in obtaining the right to veto the party membership’s choice of leader? (Don’t forget, the unions do this, not with their own money, but with other people’s…)

Have any of these donors aroused such suspicion of buying influence and cash for honours that the police had to interview the prime minister repeatedly?

Or had his “donation” returned after he’d successfully lobbied to overturn a ban on tobacco advertising?
Mister Jabberwock

so only one banker then…
Liz McShane

13eastie – You obviously don’t understand the democratic nature of Unions. They all balloted their members & voted accordingly. Unions represent individuals unlike millionaire tory donors.
tomdickandharry

David Rowland (number 1 on your list) is a property tycoon. He’s not ‘from the City’.
http://sbml.wordpress.com SadButMadLad

Liz McShane, you obviously don’t understand democracy. One man one vote. With the unions you get the membership voting but then who ever wins decides how the Labour Party is run. Not a problem when the Labour Party is not in power, but when the party is in power the will of the vast majority of the population is ignored and the votes of the union members takes priority. Doesn’t sound fair and progressive does it?
13eastie

@3 “Unions represent individuals unlike millionaire tory donors.”

Liz, you obviously don’t understand the nature of individuals. Individuals are each capable of making their minds up and casting one vote to be counted among all the others. The unions subvert this and suppress individually held views by:

a) Forcing the members to pay a fee so they can be “represented” (as long, of course, as they vote with the union majority)

b) Spending this money on internal campaigning, including printing ballot papers specifying how members are to cast their votes, so that the outcome represents the leadership preference

c) Nullifying entirely the choice of any dissenters, no matter the size of the minority they occupy. It is as if their votes were never cast.

If this is democracy, you must be using a Zimbabwean dictionary.

And whom do you feel that self-made hedge-fund managers represent, other than themselves?
http://twitter.com/myinfamy/status/35358936970301440 Daniel Pitt

RT @leftfootfwd: Tory dependence on City money should come as no surprise: http://bit.ly/hVg3My writes @ShamikDas
Robert

So people are saying Unions get to much from the Labour party, somebody will have to explain to me what we had, also we had a meeting with my Union and decided we would give to MP’s of all parties if the backed the ethos of the Union, this means labour actually gets sod all.
Richard

13eastie truly is a fount of ignorance. Hedge-fund managers represent their individual selfish interests, unions represent the collective interests and rights of thousands of members.

And his wit is so short he can do no better than plagiarise.
http://negativentropy.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/david-cameron-and-the-corporate-coup-detat-britain-the-new-tax-haven-of-europe-pt-2/ David Cameron and the Corporate Coup D’Etat (Britain: The New Tax Haven of Europe Pt. 2) « negativentropy

[...] Tory dependence on City money should come as no surprise (leftfootforward.org) [...]
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/02/prime-ministers-selective-quotations/ PMQs: Prime Minister’s (selective) Quotations | Left Foot Forward

[...] and now shown to have selectively quoted John Healey – all on the day it was revealed 50 per cent of Tory funding comes from the City, double the proportion of when he became [...]
Mr. Sensible

I am not at all surprised that the only counter some people have is to smear the unions.
Anon E Mouse

Mr.Sensible – Who smeared the unions?

The fact is Labour used to be the party of aspiration back when people used to elect it to govern in this country.

This “article” is simply the old fashioned politics of envy and will just make Labour look petty and mean.

When Labour was giving peerages to bankers I didn’t see these types of articles and despite the authors limitations this shows how out of touch Labour actually are…
http://twitter.com/martinmcgrath/status/35856469471526912 Martin McGrath

Tory dependence on City funding in pie charts. Nice! http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/02/tory-links-to-city-exposed/
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/02/boris-johnson-mayor-of-london-bankers-best-friend/ Boris: The bankers’ best friend | Left Foot Forward

[...] last week, it was revealed that more than half of Tory funds come from the City – double the proportion of when [...]
http://twitter.com/oxygum/status/44366001659330560 simon trott

Tories dependent on City money http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/02/tory-links-to-city-exposed/
http://twitter.com/dbr1981/status/44482987068362752 dbr1981

RT @oxygum: Tories dependent on City money http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/02/tory-links-to-city-exposed/
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/09/nick-clegg-liberal-democrat-conference-speech-2011/ Clegg attacks Labour/union link – but keeps schtum on Tory/City links | Left Foot Forward

[...] his coalition partners’ dependence on the City, a source which, in 2011, accounted for more than half of Tory party [...]
http://twitter.com/matthewhoulihan/status/139318329507721216 Matthew Houlihan

Cameron droning on abt union funding… It won't surprise u 2 find out where his party's money comes from: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe #PMQs
http://twitter.com/nhsspy/status/139318403121946625 Watching You

Cameron droning on abt union funding… It won't surprise u 2 find out where his party's money comes from: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe #PMQs
http://twitter.com/vsb69/status/139318950843518977 viv

Cameron droning on abt union funding… It won't surprise u 2 find out where his party's money comes from: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe #PMQs
http://twitter.com/adpucci/status/139319088819339264 Pucci D

Cameron droning on abt union funding… It won't surprise u 2 find out where his party's money comes from: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe #PMQs
http://twitter.com/brummytaff/status/139319402507157506 bob woods

Cameron droning on abt union funding… It won't surprise u 2 find out where his party's money comes from: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe #PMQs
http://twitter.com/c_a_jonestechno/status/139319504994975744 CAROLE JONES

RT @leftfootfwd: Tory dependence on City money should come as no surprise http://t.co/GCa8iqOO Now we are beginning to understand…
http://twitter.com/cairngorm22/status/139319581083844613 Neil Reid

We're being governed by bankers in every way. RT @leftfootfwd: Tory dependence on City money should come as no surprise http://t.co/Uk78aCHn
http://twitter.com/davidschoibl/status/139320476857139200 davidschoibl

Cameron droning on abt union funding… It won't surprise u 2 find out where his party's money comes from: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe #PMQs
http://twitter.com/macinpoole/status/139329979895914497 malcolm

Cameron droning on abt union funding… It won't surprise u 2 find out where his party's money comes from: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe #PMQs
http://twitter.com/alan_199/status/139334808118632448 Alan199

Cameron droning on abt union funding… It won't surprise u 2 find out where his party's money comes from: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe #PMQs
http://twitter.com/shamikdas/status/144913127744618497 Shamik Das

Here's a little reminder of just how much in hoc 2 the City fat cats Cameron is: http://t.co/twl9y8EE #BBCqt
http://twitter.com/alonorbach/status/144913380841496576 Alon Or-bach

Here's a little reminder of just how much in hoc 2 the City fat cats Cameron is: http://t.co/twl9y8EE #BBCqt
http://twitter.com/owenblacker/status/144913731762135041 Owen Blacker

Here's a little reminder of just how much in hoc 2 the City fat cats Cameron is: http://t.co/twl9y8EE #BBCqt
http://twitter.com/n_hasson/status/144913993000173568 Niall Hasson

Here's a little reminder of just how much in hoc 2 the City fat cats Cameron is: http://t.co/twl9y8EE #BBCqt
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/12/david-cameron-eurozone-deal-veto/ Cameron didn’t sign EU deal because it’s not in the interests of the one per cent | Left Foot Forward

[...] sign EU deal because it’s not in the interests of the one per cent David Cameron’s cowering reliance on the City was exposed for the world to see this morning when he vetoed a treaty change [...]
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/12/look-left-09-12-11/ Look Left – Europe 26-1 Cameron: Britain isolated like never before | Left Foot Forward

[...] I wrote earlier today: “Tory dependence on the City doubled from when Cameron became Tory leader to when he became prime minister, the amount of money the [...]
http://twitter.com/hudzyboo/status/146265723935793153 Um Ali

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/146266277286129666 Rob Ford

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://twitter.com/henryrgjones/status/146268586850271232 Henry Jones

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://twitter.com/samanthaj494/status/146269869984333824 Samantha Johnston

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://twitter.com/morosychristios/status/146274123159584768 Miles Douglas

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://twitter.com/squeezed_middle/status/146281017697763330 anonymous

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://twitter.com/evirtual_assist/status/146303950977646592 Paul Cardin

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://twitter.com/adamleaver1/status/146333860832092162 Adam Leaver

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://twitter.com/riazbhatti/status/146357379389329408 riazbhatti

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://twitter.com/zarnywoop/status/146486281654910977 Richard Pointon

Aaaaaand another backbench Tory defends City wealth & excess; wanna know why? The Tories r in hoc 2 the City fat cats: http://t.co/ExeI4tBe
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/12/look-left-17-12-11/ Look Left – Labour hold Feltham but deeper problems remain | Left Foot Forward

[...] fact, City institutions (including many Tory donors) will almost certainly pay a large price. The EU-26 will now press forward with proposals on [...]