Donor of the Week: Peter Cruddas
Author: Jon Narcross
Published on Oct 04, 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 is he:
- Peter Cruddas is an English banker and businessman, having founded the online trading company CMC Markets in 1989.
- In the 2007 Sunday Times Rich List, he was named the richest man in the City of London, with an estimated fortune of £860 million.
- In June 2011, Cruddas was appointed Conservative Party co-treasurer before resigning in March 2012.
Donations:
- Since 2009, Cruddas has given the Conservative Party over £1,000,000 in donations and over £10,000 in sponsorship and auction prizes
- Cruddas donated £350,000 to support the 2011 No to AV campaign against electoral reform, of which he was also co-treasurer.
- During his tenure as co-treasurer of the Conservative Party Cruddas continued to donate personally to the party giving over £300,000 during his time in the role.
Controversy:
- Cruddas lived for several years in the tax haven of Monaco commuting daily into London.
- While he was in Monaco, Mr Cruddas paid UK tax on some of his income, though at a lower rate than if he had been in the UK.
- In March 2012 Cruddas resigned as Conservative Party co-treasurer after The Sunday Times reported that he had offered access to the Prime Minister David Cameron and the Chancellor George Osborne, in exchange for cash donations of between £100,000 and £250,000.
- In September 2012 it was reported that Cruddas has issued legal proceedings in the High Court against Mark Adams, the political lobbyist who originally brought Cruddas’s questionable methods of fundraising to public attention.
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