Donor of the Week: John & Caroline Nash
Author: Jack Maizels
Published on Jun 14, 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 they are:
- John Nash is a British businessman with a background in private equity who was, until 2010, Chairman of Care UK, one of the leading private healthcare providers in the UK
- Caroline Nash, John’s wife, trained as a stockbroker before working in international merchant banking and is also a former Counsellor for the Citizens Advice Bureau.
- The pair are both trustees of the charity they established in 2005, Future, which sponsors the Pimlico Academy
Political Involvement:
- John Nash was appointed by George Osborne to sit on the Independent Challenge Group, who advised the government on their spending review, and also recommended, in a leaked report, that the NHS find further efficiency savings of £10bn
- He also sits on the board of the Centre for Policy Studies, a think-tank which aims to promote limiting the state and encouraging enterprise, and supports policies of privatisation and low taxes
Donations:
- Caroline has made the most significant donations, giving £172,500 to the Conservative Party between 2008 and 2010
- She has also made donations to Conservative MPs David Laurie Ruffley and Nick Herbert
- John has donated £10,000 to the Conservatives and £40,000 to the No2AV campaign
- He also made a £21,000 donation to Andrew Lansley in the run up to the 2010 General Election
- The pair each donated £3,750 Conservative candidate Philippa Stroud on the same date in October 2009
Controversy:
- Private healthcare firm Care UK stands to profit from the Health and Social Care Act, which became law in April 2012 and will allow for greater private sector involvement
- The original Bill was first proposed in early 2011 by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, who received a £21,000 donation from John Nash just over a year prior, whilst he was still Chairman of Care UK
- Care UK was also awarded a £53m contract in January 2011 to provide health care services to prisons in the North-East
- According to a report by Corporate Watch, Care UK is reducing how much tax it should pay by taking out loans through the tax haven of the Channel Islands
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