Rishi Sunak’s alleged visit to Frank Hester’s office on a £16,000 helicopter trip to Leeds, reportedly funded by the businessman, has sparked concerns about the influence of the Tory donor’s £10 million contributions on his access to the prime minister.
Questions have been raised regarding the nature of Sunak’s relationship with Hester, especially following the emergence of Hester’s derogatory comments about MP Diane Abbott, which were condemned as racist and misogynistic.
Despite facing criticism for his delayed response to the remarks, Sunak has not returned the donations from Hester. Reports from The Guardian suggest that Hester covered Sunak’s travel expenses to Leeds, where the prime minister received a private tour of Hester’s company, the Phoenix Partnership (TPP).
This visit occurred approximately three weeks after TPP donated an additional £5 million to the Conservative Party in November, supplementing a previous £5 million donation made in May.
During his visit to Leeds, Sunak was pictured meeting with small business owners at a jewelry studio in Farsley before reportedly spending around an hour at TPP’s offices. However, No ten declined to comment on Sunak’s “private meetings.”
Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds has called for transparency regarding Sunak’s discussions with Hester, particularly concerning Hester’s involvement in sensitive government matters such as healthcare data and AI policy.
Dodds emphasized the need for Sunak to address the apparent tolerance of extreme views within his party and urged him to return the donated funds.
In response, a No 10 source highlighted Sunak’s declarations of interest, including publicly available information about donations, including those for flights.
However, Sunak has faced pressure to clarify the details of his interactions with Hester, especially given Hester’s claims of engaging in extensive conversations with Sunak about artificial intelligence.
Despite apologizing for his remarks about Abbott, Hester has maintained that they were not motivated by gender or race. However, Abbott has criticized the lack of a direct apology from the Conservative Party for the nature of Hester’s comments, characterizing them as racist and inciting violence.