ConservativeHome columnist Louise Bagshawe was on Any Questions? last night (following Tim who was on last week) and gave a very assured performance. Sat next to her was Peter Oborne who had a rough time from the heckling Liverpudlian audience, of which I was a member. He bravely bashed on though, and today he has […]
The title of this post comes from a piece in today’s Guardian by New Statesman Editor John Kampfner. He writes: "In April, the New Statesman reported figures that should send a chill down Labour spines. Of the 36 Tory gains last time around, 24 had been targeted by a consortium of high-value donors coordinated by […]
Earlier this week Iain Duncan Smith offered 188 policy ideas to the Conservative Party that would help tackle social injustice. In a special survey we are seeking your opinion on 12 of those ideas. ConservativeHome intends to undertake similar surveys after each of the policy group reports. Click here to have your say.
Theresa May asked for a Parliamentary debate on back-door union funding of the Labour movement in Business Questions yesterday: "Two of Labour’s deputy leadership candidates want more taxpayers’ money to go to the unions. The Solicitor-General said: “We should do more to fund the trade unions” and the Labour party chairman said: “A Labour Government can […]
"There should be not a penny more state funding without a single, comprehensive cap on donations – including companies, the unions and individuals. The public will be highly cynical if political parties award themselves lump-sum handouts without fundamental reform. Any additional state funding should be there to assist and encourage parties to re-engage with the […]
Donations to the Party in the last quarter of 2006 amounted to a healthy £5.3m – more than Labour’s £2.64m and the LibDems’ relatively impressive £2.32m, combined. The parties also paid back around £300k of the £60.8m they have borrowed. Andrew Pierce revealed last week that the Party is still in debt to the tune […]
Andrew Pierce was a regular source of insider information about the Tory finances when he was at The Times. He appears determined to add to that reputation from his new journalistic perch at The Telegraph. Contrary to other reports – now attributed to briefings by outgoing Tory Treasurer Lord (Jonathan) Marland – the party’s finances […]
Watch it here… and then please forward it to your friends. We don’t have the budgets of the mainstream media but you have your email lists!
David Cameron has given a big interview to this morning’s Daily Telegraph. A full transcript is here but three key extracts are highlighted below: The Prime Minister and cash-for-honours: "I think we need to reform party funding in this country. As far as I can see I’m the only party leader to come up with […]
The Prime Minister was secretly interviewed by police last Friday, he was first interviewed five weeks ago. This morning’s newspapers were already talking about the end of Tony Blair (The Telegraph called him "an absurdity") due to David Cameron’s performance at PMQs. This revelation from today’s lobby briefing is a devastating double-whammy and perhaps justifies […]
For most of the cash-for-hours scandal the Conservatives have been quiet but Tory Chairman Francis Maude lets rip in an article for this morning’s Telegraph: "From Ecclestone to Mittal to PowderJect, allegations abound that donations and loans have resulted in privileged access, influence, legislative changes and honours. The Prime Minister of the day and his […]
18 Doughty Street has a new website this afternoon. It’s not 100% finished – there’ll be additional features rolling out over the coming fortnight – but it’s a major improvement on the previous version. The new site is overviewed here (in text form) and by me here (in video form). The Talk TV section is […]
10 Downing Street is reportedly hoping the Conservatives will – through Sir Hayden Phillips’ review – accept capping constituency campaign expenditure in return for the unions voluntarily ceasing to give large donations to the Labour Party. This potential deal is a little one-sided. There is of course a cap in place already but it only […]
There’s a good article from new blogger John Redwood in today’s Telegraph calling for an end to big-money politics. Like ConservativeHome (but unlike Lord Ashcroft) the former Welsh Secretary agrees with the idea of a cap on individual donations and he opposes state funding compensating for the end of Ashcroft/ Sainsbury-size donations. Some commentators – […]
I went to David Cameron’s CCHQ press conference earlier today and took my 18 Doughty Street camcorder. The above video clip is of the Tory leader’s remarks on political funding – in response to a question from The Guardian’s Will Woodward. Mr Cameron appeared to indicate that he would be willing to play hardball with […]