Pressure on Tories to return £15m donations after new Hester claims

The Conservative party is facing questions over its decision to keep more than £15m given by its biggest ever donor, Frank Hester, after former employees made a series of fresh allegations.

- Rowena Mason, Henry Dyer, Matthew Weaver

Hester is alleged to have referred to a staff member as the "token Muslim", imitated people of Chinese descent and remarked that one individual was attractive for a black woman, according to former employees who spoke to the Guardian.

More than a dozen former staffers told the Guardian of claims that Hester repeatedly made comments about race or religion in the workplace or on a work trip, including in recent years.

The claims will pile pressure on Rishi Sunak after it was confirmed yesterday that Hester had given a further £5m to the Tories through his healthcare tech firm, the Phoenix Partnership (TPP). It brings the total donated by Hester to more than £15m in a year, equating to more than 40% of the total national spending limit for each party in the general election.

All the allegations were put to Hester. He did not respond to the claims.

In relation to the new claims, a Conservative spokesperson said the party considered the matter "resolved" as Hester had previously apologised for past remarks about Diane Abbott, which were widely condemned as racist and misogynistic.

Earlier this year, Sunak resisted calls to return the £10m Hester and his firm initially donated, with one of his ministers saying the 2019 comments were made "half a decade ago".

But in the past six months, former TPP staff have spoken to the Guardian about Hester's alleged workplace behaviour over a number of years.

Two ex-employees described Hester talking about an individual at a hotel in 2021 and saying she was attractive for a black woman. The comment was allegedly made during a work trip in London.