Tories boosted by £5m donation from healthcare entrepreneur

The Conservative Party has been given £5 million by a healthcare entrepreneur, its joint biggest single donation in two decades.

The donation was made by Frank Hester, the founder and chief executive The Phoenix Partnership (TPP), which specialises in healthcare technology.

In an article for The Telegraph explaining his decision, Mr Hester says Rishi Sunak’s “passion” for utilising new technology to improve the NHS helped convince him to donate.

He admits some people may consider him “naive” to give so much money with the Tories far behind Labour in opinion polls, but insists he believes in the party’s healthcare plans.

The donation matches another £5 million recently given by Mohamed Mansour, an Egyptian-born billionaire.

Both are the biggest individual Tory donations since 2001, the start date of the party’s internal database.

Sir Paul Getty, the billionaire philanthropist, also gave the party £5 million in 2001.

The financial boost comes as the Tories prepare for a general election campaign, with the vote expected to be in autumn 2024.

The Conservatives have traditionally raised more in donations than the Labour Party, and the size of Mr Hester’s contribution is of a scale unmatched by the Opposition.

Labour has increased its donations from individuals – rather than trade unions – under Sir Keir Starmer since he took over the leadership from Jeremy Corbyn in 2020.

But even so, in 2022 alone Labour raised just £2 million in individual donations – less than half of Mr Hester’s gift.

Mr Hester makes reference to the experience of losing his father and the medical complications involved as he describes his interest in healthcare in his Telegraph article.

He writes: “When I was 28 my father, who had a debilitating lung disease, suffered a heart attack. He had been clear that should the worst happen he didn’t want to be resuscitated.

“However, there was a terrible mix up at the hospital and the doctors, who didn’t have access to that key information in his medical record, brought him back.

“He then spent four days in a coma on a life support machine until my mother and I made the difficult decision to let him go.

“While I don’t blame anyone for this mistake, it left a mark deep inside me to try and improve the way healthcare is delivered in this country.”

Mr Hester also singles out the Prime Minister personally when discussing why he has chosen to back the Conservatives.

He writes: “Historically, I have never been particularly interested in politics – I used to vote Green until I realised they wanted to close the M1!

“However, in Rishi Sunak I see someone who shares my passion for using technology to enable front line workers to spend more time treating patients and ultimately revolutionise the way healthcare is delivered in Britain.

“I believe he understands and values the NHS and wants to tackle some of its most pressing challenges.”

Critics, however, are likely to seize upon his businesses involvement in healthcare and ask whether that played a role in his decision to give the Tories so much money.

TPP is a private healthcare firm with at least one government contract worth £150,000. It emerged earlier this month that the company had made a donation to the party of a similar amount.

A company spokesman at the time told The Mirror, which broke the story: “TPP strictly follows the guidelines for public sector contracting.

“In regards to the donations, these should have been made by Frank Hester in his personal capacity rather than through the business. Mr Hester repaid the company in full. For absolute clarity, TPP is unequivocally apolitical.”

Mr Hester’s company is based in Yorkshire, where Mr Sunak’s constituency in Richmond is also located.

On this year’s Sunday Times Rich List Mr Hester was ranked joint 321st place, with an estimated wealth of £415 million.