Donor of the Week: Irvine Laidlaw
Author: Jon Narcross
Published on Sep 27, 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:
- A Scottish businessman and a member of the House of Lords since 2004, sitting as a Conservative
- He founded the Institute for International Research Ltd (IIR) in 1974, which he sold in 2005 for £768 million
- He is the 5th richest person in Scotland in 2011, worth an estimated £745m
- He owns Glasgow based office rental firm Abbey Business Centres Ltd, who have also made significant donations to the Conservatives
Donations:
- Laidlaw is estimated to have given the Tories over £4mil and has almost single-handedly bankrolled the Scottish Conservatives
- In 2007, converted a £2.9m loan into a donation, and also gave a gift of £25,000 to Boris Johnson’s 2008 Mayoral campaign
- Between 2005 and 2010, Abbey Business Centres made £753,000 in cash and £442,500 in “non-cash” donations to the Conservatives, including £5,000 a-month rental subsidies on a building in Edinburgh that the Scottish Conservatives used as their headquarters
Controversy:
- Lord Laidlaw was made a member of the House of Lords in 2004 on the condition that he would end his tax-exile status, but, preferring to avoid an annual tax bill of some £50mil for his assets, was suspended in 2007 for failing to keep his promise
- In 2008, the Conservatives announced that they had stopped taking cash donations from Laidlaw until he “sorted out his tax issues”, but continued to accept £110,00 in cash and non-cash donations between 2008 and 2010
- Laidlaw was one of four Conservative donors questioned by police in the “cash-for-peerages” scandal in 2006
- After embarrassing the Conservatives when he was exposed for participating in orgies with prostitutes, Laidlaw made a £27,000 donation to the Conservatives in 2008 and hosted a £500,000 garden party to rehabilitate relations with the party, re-igniting criticism surrounding party funding
- Laidlaw's relationship with the Scottish Executive was likewise called in to question when it was revealed that his charity, the Laidlaw Youth Project, was given £500,000 of taxpayer's money between 2004 and 2007
- Criticised for failing to pay UK taxes due to non-domicile status; quit the House of Lords in 2010 in order to avoid paying UK taxes despite pledging to become a British taxpayer
- Has also faced controversy in Scotland after it was revealed that his charity, Laidlaw Youth Project (LYP), had received donations worth £500,000 between 2004-07, and had also paid the salary of the charity’s chief executive despite Laidlaw’s personal fortune
- Has continued to donate to the Conservative Party despite tabloid revelations about his personal life
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