Donor of the Week: Christopher Ondaatje
Author: Jon Narcross
Published on Oct 25, 2012
Our Donor of the Week series aims to shed some light on the people, companies and organisations who are funding our political parties. Each week, we’ll look at the chosen donor’s political involvement, their donation history and any controversy associated with their actions, and question whether this really is the best system for financing our politics.
Who he is:
- Former financier and publisher who changed his career to travelling and writing in the early 1990s
- Born in Sri Lanka in 1933, he was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon
- He was made a CBE in 2000 and awarded a Knighthood in 2003
- Has residences in London, Devon and Nova Scotia
Business and Philanthropy:
- Ondaatje moved to Canada in 1956 in order to begin a career in finance
- Founded Pagurian Press in 1967; this later became the Pagurian Corporation which Ondaatje sold in 1988
- Since leaving finance and publishing, Ondaatje has written a number of books about travel and established the Ondaatje Foundation and is a patron of the National Portrait Gallery
Donations:
- It was revealed in 2001 that Ondaatje had donated £2 million to the Labour Party
- He donated a further £1 million in 2003, and his last recorded donation occurred in 2005
- Since 2001 he has donated over £1.7million to the Labour Party
- In 2010 Ondaatje commented that he no longer donated to Labour or any political party, although he noted that he could do so anonymously if he kept the amounts to £7,000 or less
Controversy:
- There have been suggestions that Ondaatje's Knighthood was linked to his political donations, although this was denied by the government
- The Guardian claimed in 2002 that Ondaatje held non-dom status
- His UK home in Devon is owned by Exmoor Ltd, meaning he avoids tax liabilities on it
Notes:
- Date of the donation is the date the donation was accepted by the party
- Analysis refers to donations to main party, individual MPs, MEPs, local parties and affiliated groups, cash donations and non-cash donations
- Electoral Commission Donation Reports have only been available since 2001, and analysis does not consider any donations made before this point
- Variations of the same name e.g. Joe Bloggs, Mr Joe Bloggs, Sir J Bloggs, etc are all collated as the same donor
- Donations from companies that have moved address, changed name or have several subdivisions all making donations are also collated as the same donor, as are all previous forms of the same Trade Unions