Thread by @allthecitizens

BREAKING: More than £600,000 has been donated to the Conservative Party by firms and individuals that have been awarded some £400 million in public contracts during the Coronavirus pandemic.
A thread by @ALLTHECITIZENS and @BYLINETIMES

Yesterday’s release by the Electoral Commission of quarterly donations shows that since Q4 (October) 2020, John Bloor, Wol Kolade, Peter Rigby, John Nash, Vin Murria, & Michael Ashcroft, together donated £615,000 to the Tories. All linked to huge gov contracts in the pandemic.

Oluwole Kolade gave £205,000 between November 2020 - March 2021. Wol sits as managing partner of Livingbridge, a private equity firm that until Jan 2021 held a controlling stake in Efficio, which has now received £11m from the gov since the pandemic began

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1355124277746552833?s=20

Livingbridge sold their stake following reporting on Efficio’s contracts, but a second company, FIS Nominees Ltd, retained control of their A-class shares. FIS Nominees is in turn controlled by Livingbridge.

Wol’s donated £884,342 to the Tories since 2011.
bylinetimes.com/2021/01/29/fir…

Baron John Nash, who recently donated £90,000, is the ‘Government’s Lead Non-Exec Director’, and is linked to the IT consultancy Softcat Plc. They were awarded 11 contracts worth £16.2m starting in Feb 2020.
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/22/con…

Nash was an early investor in the company, holds shares, and previously sat as a director. He has also held numerous other roles within government throughout his career. He’s given over £530k to the Tories since 2006.

Also associated with Softcat is Vinodka ‘Vin’ Murria, a non-exec director at the firm, who on the 21st of Jan this year gave £50,000 to the Conservatives via another company of hers, VM.AV Corporate Services Ltd. This brins her total donations to £175,000.

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1374052211127386114?s=20

The Rigby Group Plc / Sir Peter Rigby, donated £70,000 to the Tories between Oct 2020 - Mar 2021.
Rigby Group controls Specialist Computer Centres (SCC), awarded a laptop provision contract in Oct 2020 worth £2.1m. Rigby has donated £275,000 since 2016.
bylinetimes.com/2021/02/05/cro…

John Stuart Bloor, through his company Bloor Holdings Ltd, gave £150k in March.

Bloor is a major Tory donor, racking up over £3.1m since 2007. Another company under his control, Pickerings Hire Ltd, was awarded a £14.4m contract by DHSC in September 2020.
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/11/new…

Lastly, Lord Michael Ashcroft, ex-Tory treasurer, Tory peer and owner of ConservativeHome continued donating by giving £50k to the party on Feb 8th 2021. Ashcroft's donated £6.2m since 2001, personally and through his company ‘Bearwood Corporate Services’ independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…

We reported in Jan that recruitment company Medacs Healthcare won a massive £350m deal to “support medical and clinical services in laboratories”. Medacs is owned by the Impellam Group, a company under the control of Ashcroft and his family.

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1351943500523311105?s=20

Lord Ashcroft said that there was no link between his donations and contract awards. Bloor, Kolade, Rigby, Nash and Murria have yet to publicly comment.

We are not suggesting there is anything illegal or immoral about donating to a ruling political party and also being a recipient, or benefiting from, government contracts. But we feel such donations should be fully declared as potential conflicts of interest wherever appropriate.

If you want to support @allthecitizens continue in investigating potential conflicts of interest in UK government contracts, please help us us here: keepingthereceipts.substack.com/welcome

Read the full report on party donations from companies and individuals who have won Covid contracts at @BylineTimes bylinetimes.com/2021/06/04/400…