James Cleverly does not rule out taking donations from Frank Hester | Conservative leadership

The Conservative party leadership candidate James Cleverly has declined to rule out accepting future donations from Frank Hester, the businessman who said Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women”.

A Guardian investigation revealed in March that Hester had told a meeting he did not hate all black women but seeing Abbott on TV meant “you just want to hate all black women because she’s there”. He also said the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington “should be shot”.

Cleverly was repeatedly asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg if his pledge to “run a different Tory party” and be a “different kind of leader” meant he would turn down further donations from the healthcare technology entrepreneur.

He responded: “He’s apologised, he admitted that what he said was completely wrong. The reason he donated to the Conservative party’s general election campaign was to protect the British people from the Labour government that we now see.

“I’ve not had any discussions with Frank Hester about the future. What he said was totally unacceptable, he’s apologised for that. He has been a donor to the [Conservative] party. Whether he is again in the future, I don’t know.”

Hester has given the Tories £15m since 2023, including the biggest donation the party received during the general election campaign – more than £5m through his business The Phoenix Partnership in May.

In response to Cleverly’s comments, a Labour spokesperson said: “James Cleverly had the opportunity to rule out taking further donations from a man who has made abhorrent, racist remarks, and refused. All the Tory leadership candidates claim to want to change the Conservative party but the truth is they are too weak to do it.

“If they were serious about ending the chaos and decline at the heart of the Tories, the leadership candidates would promise to never accept donations from Frank Hester ever again.”

Keir Starmer faces a possible investigation over his own donations after allegedly breaking parliamentary rules by failing to declare clothing gifted to his wife, Victoria.

The prominent Labour donor Waheed Alli covered the cost of a personal shopper, clothes and alterations for the party leader’s wife before and after Labour’s election win in July, the Sunday Times reported.

It is alleged that the donations were not initially declared in the register of MPs’ interests.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “We sought advice from the authorities on coming to office. We believed we had been compliant; however, following further interrogation this month we have declared further items.”

Cleverly was asked on the BBC programme if he thought Hester’s alleged racist comments were equivalent to the controversy over Victoria Starmer’s clothes.

He said: “Well, that wealthy donor [Lord Alli] was then given a pass to No 10, to run free at the very heart of government, something that Mr Hester has not ever had.”

It emerged last weekend that Alli had been given a Downing Street security pass temporarily without apparently having a government role.