Kemi Badenoch has insisted the Conservative Party is “doing fine” on donations, despite losing a major source of funding to Reform UK this morning. Bassim Haidar, who gave the Tories a whopping £700,000 during Rishi Sunak’s premiership, has today pledged £1 million to Reform UK.
The tech billionaire was one of the Conservatives’ biggest donors in recent years, however now believes his former party has “stopped listening”. He told the Telegraph: “he Conservative Party stopped listening and, for me, I had to go with the party that I believe can actually reset and change the status quo in the UK. Nigel and Reform are the only ones that can do this and that’s why I’m supporting them. If we want a better future, we have to stop funding the past.”
Mr Haidar also warned there could be more cash to come for Reform, saying he has committed £1 million “for now”.
He also revealed he has “a few friends that are seriously, seriously considering [donating to Reform.”
The political activist hopes his move, in one fell swoop becoming Reform UK’s biggest financier, will encourage other rich Brits to be brave enough to bet on Nigel Farage.
Mr Farage said: “Reform has achieved a huge amount on a small budget so far. With a donation like this, we can rapidly build out our team and professionalise further as we head towards the next general election.”
“This is especially true if others follow Bassim’s lead.”
This morning, Ms Badenoch insisted she was “not worried” that Mr Haidar would be the first of many donor defections from the Tories to Reform.
Speaking on Sky News, Ms Badenoch pointed to the last set of donation returns from the Electoral Commission which said the Tories had out-earned Labour, Reform and the LibDems combined.
The Conservative leader said: “No, I’m not worried. We’re raising money as well in the Conservative Party. The last release said we raised more than the LibDems, Reform and Labour combined.”
“So we’re doing fine on donations. Obviously we don’t want to lose our donors, but we need to make sure that what we are doing is about the public not just about winning elections.”
This morning the Sunday Times also claims Ms Badenoch has been privately telling Conservative Party donors that she believes some sort of electoral pact with Reform is “inevitable” if Labour is to lose the next election.
The paper cites a source familiar with Ms Badenoch’s donor conversations, who said her private comments have “not gone down particularly well with some and it is an interesting tactic, given the party is struggling to attract funding and has lost some of its biggest donors.”
