Tugendhat tops donations of Tory leadership candidates with more than £150,000

Tom Tugendhat has topped the list of donations amongst the Tory leadership candidates, receiving more than £150,000 for his campaign.

Mr Tugendhat declared more than £152,508.22 in the most recent declaration of MPs’ interests published on Wednesday, followed closely by Robert Jenrick who declared £134,376 of new donations.

The remaining two contenders, James Cleverly and Kemi Badenoch, received £89,000 and £40,000 respectively.

The Prime Minister and new Government have faced weeks of criticism for accepting tens of thousands of pounds worth of freebies from wealthy donors.

Sir Keir Starmer has said he has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received since entering Number 10 amidst the row over ministerial donations.

Tory leadership candidates spent the weekend at the party conference in Birmingham pitching their case to members in a bid to take over the party from former prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

Mr Tugendhat, whose campaign gave away eye-catching merchandise such as the “Tugend-hat” caps and false tan, the “Tugen-tan”, declared the most new donations of any of his rivals.

He received £20,000 from Blue WV; £10,000 from Michael Sherwood; £4,500 from Bestway Wholesale; £5,000 from James Mellon; £12,500 from Michael Tory; £25,000 from Dominic Barton; £25,000 from Bridgemere UK; £7,258.22 from Christian Sweeting; £5,000 from Derek Calrow; £2,000 from Oliver Pawle; and £33,000 from Nicholas Bacon.

Mr Tugendhat was also gifted “use of office space” for his campaign to the value of £3,250 from Latis Group Limited.

Mr Jenrick, whose pitch to Tory members included a pledge to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), had more than £100,000 of new donations in the latest registry.

He registered donations of £35,000 from Quantum Pacific Corporation UK; £20,000 from Daniel Green; £16,876.51 from Jenna Littler for “financial assistance in defraying travelling expenses”; £2,500 from Colin Moynihan; £5,000 from Brian Kingham; £5,000 from ERO Solutions; £25,000 from The Spott Fitness; and £25,000 from Fergus Hall.

Mr Cleverly, who said he wants to “sell Conservatism with a smile” received £79,000 of new donations for his leadership campaign.

He declared £25,000 from Simon Chappell; £10,000 from Andrew Law; £10,000 from IPGL Limited; £5,000 from Ken Costa; £10,000 from Laurence Geller; and £19,000 from FT Estates.

Mr Cleverly also registered the use of desk space within office valued at £10,000 from FT Estates.

Ms Badenoch registered £40,000 of new donations towards her leadership campaign including £10,000 from David Naylor Leyland; £5,000 from John Goodall; £10,000 from John Edward James; £5,000 from Roger Brookhouse; £5,000 from Quentin Marshall; and £5,000 from Charles Morgan.