Diane Abbott has said the Conservative Party’s decision to accept another donation from businessman Frank Hester is an insult to “all black women”.
The latest Electoral Commission data shows that Hester — who previously said Abbott made him want to “hate all black women” and “should be shot” — has donated a further £5 million to the Conservatives.
This is on top of the £10 million Hester donated last year.
In a post on X/Twitter, Abbott said: “Rishi Sunak belatedly admitted Frank Hester’s remarks that ‘I made him hate all black woman and should be shot’ were racist.”
***Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest election news and analysis.***
The Labour Party candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington added: “Now it turns out Sunak accepted a further £5 million from him. An insult to me and all black women.”
In 2019, Hester said that Abbott made him want to “hate all black women and that she “should be shot”.
The comments were reported by The Guardian in March of this year.
A spokesperson for the entrepreneur released a statement at the time saying: “Frank Hester accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbott in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin.
“The Guardian is right when it quotes Frank saying he abhors racism, not least because he experienced it as the child of Irish immigrants in the 1970s.”
They added that Hester rang Abbott to “try to apologise directly for the hurt he has caused her, and is deeply sorry for his remarks”.
“He wishes to make it clear that he regards racism as a poison which has no place in public life.”
Responding to the latest donation, Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds said: “Rishi Sunak has proven he is a man with no integrity.
“He is too weak to return the money donated by a man who has made violent, misogynist, and racist remarks which belong nowhere near our politics.
“If Rishi Sunak had a backbone he’d have cut ties with Frank Hester months ago, returned the money and apologised properly to Diane Abbott.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “How low can Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives go? If the Conservatives spend this money they will be proudly funded by a man who made the most appalling racist and sexist comments.
“Ultimately the buck stops with Rishi Sunak. Sunak must personally intervene and make sure not a penny of this money is spent.”
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest election news and analysis.
