Tory Minister Tells Stunned BBC Host He’d Take Another £10m From Race Row Party Donor
Tory Minister Kevin Hollinrake told BBC Breakfast host Jon Kay that the Conservative Party would gladly accept an additional £10 million from party donor Frank Hester, despite the businessman’s resurfaced remarks saying MP Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and should be “shot.”
Hollinrake’s statement comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned Hester’s comments about Abbott as “racist” and a growing public call for the Tories to return the £10 million donation Hester made last year. Hester has since apologised for the comments, first reported by the Guardian, made in an internal company meeting at his business in 2019.
Hollindrake appeared on BBC Breakfast Wednesday, where Kay raised the incident again in light of the prime minister’s statement.
Kay: “What we do know for sure, is that he is the Conservative Party’s biggest donor – £10 million he has given to the Conservative Party. And a lot of people, even within your own party, are saying this morning that that doesn’t sit right, that you should give the money back. Do you agree?”
Hollinrake: “No, I don’t agree with that. If Mr Hester was a racist, if he refused to apologise for what he said, that would be different. He’s apologised. I don’t believe he’s a racist. I think in terms of the context of things we’ve got going on now, and I’m here really to talk about the post office and trying to exonerate postmasters and compensate them, there are, I think, bigger issues at play here that we need to focus on in terms of probably greater priorities for most of the people watching this programme.”
Kay: “I think a lot of people watching this programme have been deeply shocked by this story over the last 36 hours now. And for them, it is a big issue because it tells them a lot about the government and what the government thinks and how it operates and about community cohesion, and they’ve been really disturbed by this, and they would like you to give the money back. I mean, if Mr Hester today said: ‘Well, I’d like to give you another £10 million’ would you take it?”
Hollinrake: “Well, on the basis that we don’t believe Mr Hester is a racist, yes. But I’ve got to say, all those people I spoke to yesterday, I spoke to members of the public and postmasters and many other people, nobody mentioned this story to me in terms of the context of what we’re trying to do, which is overturn convictions and pay people compensation. That’s what I’m really focused on, and I think quite rightly so.”
Kay: “So let’s just be absolutely clear. Yesterday, the Prime Minister said that this man’s alleged comments were racist and wrong, and you say if this same man wanted to give another £10 million today to the Conservative Party, you’d take the money?”
Hollinrake: “Yes, that’s how I understand the situation, yes.”
Kay: “Thank you very much indeed, Kevin Hollingrake. We’ll get more reaction to that as the programme goes on.”
Hester is the Conservative Party’s “biggest ever donor” and his company has received over £400m from the NHS and various government entities since 2016, including £135m worth of contracts from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in the past four years.
The businessman made a £5m donation to the Conservatives in May 2023, followed by another £5m contributed by his company in November last year.
