Donor of the Week: Michael Farmer
Author: Jon Narcross
Published on Nov 01, 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:
- Michael Farmer is a City financier who has made a fortune in the international metal markets, earning him the nickname Mr Copper in the City
- He founded RK Capital Management, whose main fund, Red Kite, is one of the biggest industrial metals hedge funds in the world
- He became the Tories' co-treasurer in alongside Stanley Fink in February 2012, taking over from Peter Cruddas, who resigned in light of the 'cash-for-access' scandal
- He is a committed Christian and a strong advocate of family values
- Farmer is worth £120million; ranked 624 in the 2012 Sunday Times Rich List
Business and Philanthropy:
- Farmer left school at 18 and went to work at AJ Strauss, a metals trading firm in the City
- He ran MG Metals for 10 years, turning it into the world's biggest copper trader; it became the first metals trading company to list on the London Stock Exchange
- MG Metals was bought by the American company Elron, which then collapsed two years later
- Farmer was involved in the clear up, helping auditors to untangle the mess
- Says he donates to the Tories because of their views on the family and “Christian life”
Donations:
- From 2001 until May 2012, Farmer donated £3,919,646, topping the donations from hedge fund managers to the Tory Party
- A notable recipient of his donations is the Conservative Christian Fellowship, having donated £205,296 to them
- When Cameron was elected as Party leader and pledged to make the family a focus of the Tory campaign, Farmer upped his donations to the Tories from one of £10,000 in 2001 to regular cheques of around £250,000 a quarter
- He is David Cameron's biggest individual financial backer
Controversy:
- In May 2012, he helped fund Michael Gove's plan to send a copy of the King James Bible to every state school
- Farmer was caught up in the 'cash-for-access' scandal in March 2012, where it was revealed that huge sums of money were paid by some of the richest people in Britain to gain access to top Tories
- In November 2011, Farmer and his wife attended a “thank-you” dinner and a further social dinner with David Cameron in Downing Street, described as a 'dinner for strong and long-term supporters of the party'
- He is known to have attended 'Leader's Group' meals during 2012; a leading Tory donor club and the premier support Group of the Conservative Party
- Annual membership is £50,000, with members being invited to join David Cameron and other senior figures at dinners, post-PMQ lunches, drinks receptions, election result events and important campaign launches
- In 2012, Farmer signed a petition by the Coalition for Marriage, a group campaigning against same-sex marriage, explaining that he supports 'the legal definition of marriage which is the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others'
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