Revealed: Russian donors have stepped up Tory funding. So the Tory party said it was distancing itself from Russian donors. Guess what? There's been a significant increase in last year. New @openDemocracy exclusive by myself and @SAThevoz opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…
This week Boris Johnson was accused of ‘cover-up’ over a report into Kremlin interference in British politics. Now it seems that Theresa May's pledge to "sup with a long spoon" when it comes to Russian donors hasn't been kept. Tories have received c£half a million in a year
By far the largest recent Russian donor has been Lubov Chernukhin. The wife of a former Russian deputy finance minister, Chernukhin has donated more than £450,000 to the Conservatives in the last year and previously paid £160k to play tennis with Johnson and David Cameron
Former arms tycoon Alexander Temerko is another prominent Russian donor in Tory circles who has given money in the past year. Temerko, who has spoken warmly about his “friend” Boris Johnson. In recent years Temerko has given more than £1.2m
In May, Conservatives also received c £20,000 from New Century Media, a lobbying company founded by former Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside that was paid by the Kremlin to promote a “positive image” of Russia in UK in 2013 and has worked for Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash
Responding to our story, Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said: “Now we know one of the reasons Boris Johnson is suppressing the official report into Kremlin penetration of our democracy. It's because of the substantial and growing links between Russian money and the Tory Party.”
Tamasin Cave from Spinwatch said: "What are their interests in propping up Boris Johnson’s government? And particularly a government that is refusing to release a report into Russian interference in our politics?”
A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said: “The Conservative Party does not accept foreign donations – as they are illegal." A spokeswoman for New Century Media said that all its political donations are a matter of public record.
At the time of tweeting, the Intelligence and Security Committee report into Kremlin interference in British politics has still not been published. For no good reason it seems. Do consider supporting @openDemocracy and its journalism support.opendemocracy.net/campaign/wcf?s…
