Tory donors & NI backers rewarded with peerage


by Newswire    
1:08 am - April 20th 2010

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Two Tory donors who signed the recent business leaders’ letter against Labour’s planned “tax on jobs” are to get seats in the Lords.

The Times has learnt that a new list of about 30 working peers due to be released in the next few days will include the names of Conservative nominees Simon Wolfson and Sir Anthony Bamford.
…
Sir Anthony is the chairman of construction equipment maker JCB, which has given the Conservatives almost £1 million in recent years. He has also made smaller gifts of more than £80,000 in his own name. Donations in kind by JCB Research filed with the Electoral Commission include £175,000 towards the cost of private flights for members of the Shadow Cabinet.

Mr Wolfson, the chief executive of Next, has emerged as another major benefactor since David Cameron took over, giving £238,000 to the party over the past four years. Senior Tory officials have said that Mr Wolfson has become a significant influence in economic policy, co-chairing the party’s Competitiveness Group with John Redwood.

… more at The Times

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Reader comments


1. WhatNext?!

Errrrrrrrrrrr ………..

A decent contender for Most Spurious and/or Desperate post of the campaign.

Sunny will have to up his game.

2. NorthernJohn

Come come Sunny. Given the number of prominent businessmen who supported the Tories on NI, it would be a miracle if some of them didn’t end up with peerages. There’s not necessarily a cause and effect in relation to their position on NI.

Remind me, please, of the number of peerages dished out by Labour? Remind me, please which (Labour) prime minister was interviewed by police in connection with a criminal investigation into peerages for donations. Reassure me, if you can, that services to the Labour Party played no part in the nomination of any of the following for a peerage:

Alan Sugar
Swraj Paul
Barry Townsley
Sir David Garrard
Sir Gulam Noon
Dr Chai Patel

Quite apart from these Labour peers, let’s not also forget that Brown (who has shown himself to be rather keen to avoid the ballot box – 1994 Labour leadership election, Lisbon Treaty referendum, General Election 2007) has made appointments to the Lords in order to put unelected ministers in his government. To name just a few off the top of my head:

Lord Mandelson
Lord Adonis (appointed to Lords and government by Blair, retained by Brown)
Lord West
Lord “Digby” Jones
Lord Malloch-Brown
Baroness Vadera
Lord Darzi
Lord Davies of Abersoch
GMTV’s Fiona Philips is widely reputed to have been offered a peerage and a job as a health minister.

Give me a break!


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