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Will nom-dom Lord Ashcroft fund local battles?

7:30am Wednesday 3rd March 2010 in


MILLIONAIRE Tory peer Lord Ashcroft has helped bankroll the battle for Dorset’s marginal constituency seats.

A company run by Lord Ashcroft, who ended a decade of speculation by confirming his “non-dom” tax status this week, donated almost £38,000 to help Conservatives fight the Dorset South and Mid Dorset & North Poole seats during the last election.

And a national newspaper suggests Lord Ashcroft – the party’s vice-chairman and biggest donor – has largely funded a £6 million war chest to fight marginal seats in 2010.

Electoral Commission figures, released after the 2005 election, revealed Lord Ashcroft’s company Bearwood Corporate Services Ltd donated £29,142 to the South Dorset party, where the Conservatives lost a neck-and-neck battle to unseat Labour MP Jim Knight.

The company gave £8,000 in the bid to unseat Mid Dorset and North Poole’s Liberal Democrat MP Annette Brooke.

Neither seat changed hands in 2005 and it remains unclear if Ashcroft money is being used to finance the current campaigns of prospective candidates Nick King and Richard Drax.

However, Cllr King – who is getting ready to contest Mid-Dorset and North Poole – said: “I can genuinely tell you, hand on heart, that well over 90 per cent of the amount of money spent in mid-Dorset comes from people who are based here.”

Mrs Brooke said: “Ashcroft money was clearly around in the last election and I was pleased to succeed in spite of that money being donated.”

Lord Ashcroft’s “non-dom” status means he does not pay tax on the majority of his earnings.

Poole’s Conservative MP Robert Syms said Labour also had “non-dom” donors.

“I’m happy to have his help to get rid of this rotten government and I think Michael Ashcroft has been a loyal friend and supporter of the party through good years and bad,” he said.

“At the end of the day, politics needs to be paid for.

“Unless we go towards a system of state funding, we’re going to have individuals, including some very rich individuals, contributing to all political parties.”

Comments(15)

traindriver3ss says...
7:59am Wed 3 Mar 10

They cant win the arguments on their own merits, so they will buy the election. Helped by the Echo of course lol Same old Tories!!!

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uvox44 says...
8:36am Wed 3 Mar 10

spot the difference - individual or small business forgets to declare all their tax liabilty, and gets fined. Very rich company director takes non-dom status to avoid tax liabilty- praise and knighthoods all round! There has always been a law for the rich for the poor and a different set of standards for the rich and I can't imagine any political party changing this , because Governments are scared of challenging big business- just look at the lack of any real regulation of the banks.

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Upkeep says...
9:08am Wed 3 Mar 10

Amazing what can be done if you`ve got the money. Come the revolution ??

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Bob49 says...
9:41am Wed 3 Mar 10

It is not just the way this dodgy character has got the money but the fact that he is choosing to skew the election but adversely influencing a few constituencies. If the message is valid then why not appeal to the electorate as a whole ? This smacks of 'rotten boroughs' where selected voters were bribed with drinks - the candidate usually being the local Tory squire. The contempt for the electorate in this shabby piece of underhand dealing turns us back to the early 18th century.

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O'Really says...
10:06am Wed 3 Mar 10

So.. he doesn't want to live here to avoid paying his tax contribution, but still wants to exert influence with his money.
There's something very wrong with a 'democracy' that allows fat-cat self-exiles to do this.

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Syd Poumen says...
10:44am Wed 3 Mar 10

Poole's Conservative MP, Robert Syms, said:'At the end of the day, politics has to be paid for.'
So, what the Conservatives can't screw out of the taxpayer by way of MP's allowances, they will make up for with donations from tax-dodging millionaires.
Time for Change for the minions, but for million pound cheques for the wealthy!

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Syd Poumen says...
10:44am Wed 3 Mar 10

Poole's Conservative MP, Robert Syms, said:'At the end of the day, politics has to be paid for.'
So, what the Conservatives can't screw out of the taxpayer by way of MP's allowances, they will make up for with donations from tax-dodging millionaires.
Time for Change for the minions, but for million pound cheques for the wealthy!

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contric says...
10:50am Wed 3 Mar 10

what about labour nom doms as well and i expect lib dems have a few we all know the tories have face it whoever gets in they are well off people you dont get plumbers chippies bus or even train drivers as mp s i think in the olden days people were crying out for a party to represent them i e the labour party and it did the job helping the poor and exploited but labour are nothing like they were the tories will always be the same the lib dems are as usual promising this that and the other knowing they wont be in a position to deliver i have voted labour all my life but not this time but i wouldnt vote tory or lib dem you only have to look at europe to see the bullshin that they give us about democracy i dont think it exists look after myself and dont care about them t ellwood will make his usual appearance at church just as he always does before the election fooling the churchgoers into believing he is a good guy most of the mps are well off and harmans husband given a safe labour seat torys not wanting to sit next to people like us on the train they are all priveleged whatever party they reperesent and i for one have know confidence or respect for them at all

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John.Sprackling says...
12:59pm Wed 3 Mar 10

Robert Syms says “Unless we go towards a system of state funding, we’re going to have individuals, including some very rich individuals, contributing to all political parties.”

Mr Syms clearly misses the point. In this case, Lord 'Cashcroft' can afford to make substantial donations to the Conservative Party, as it is alleged that he has deprived the public purse of more than £127m in a 10-year-long tax dodge

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fartycat says...
2:37pm Wed 3 Mar 10

contric,
.
There is a huge difference between Cashcroft (can you see what I've done there?) and the Labour non-doms.
.
For a start, none of the Labour donors are a vice-president of the party. None of them take a direct role in the election campaign and strategy. None of them have offices at Labour Party HQ.
.
Ashcroft has an office at Tory Party HQ, he is absolutely central to Cameron and right in the middle of policy making for the Conservatives and has been for ten years.
.
I agree with your other points though - Parliament is crying out for some "ordinary people" who used to do "ordinary jobs". There ar far too many career politicians around nowadays.

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contric says...
3:24pm Wed 3 Mar 10

fartycat i think ashcroft is the worst of a bad bunch of greedy individuals who are depriving people of the taxes included in those people are handicapped elderly pensioners who cant afford the heating i am only trying to say that robbery is robbery and now after an entire working life of union membership fighting the injustices that the rich foist on us i have had enough of politicians of all parties who think there is a divine right to rip the people of this country i despise them all i lump them together hall ashcroft hulne they are all despicable people and i dont think any of us knows how corrupt the whole of parliament is for me they all should be shot

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Syd Poumen says...
5:33pm Wed 3 Mar 10

John.Sprackling wrote:
Robert Syms says “Unless we go towards a system of state funding, we’re going to have individuals, including some very rich individuals, contributing to all political parties.” Mr Syms clearly misses the point. In this case, Lord 'Cashcroft' can afford to make substantial donations to the Conservative Party, as it is alleged that he has deprived the public purse of more than £127m in a 10-year-long tax dodge
If Syms really thinks he should be encouraging Lord 'Cashcroft's tax-dodging activities, I suggest that he should heed the advice for both 'Cashcroft' and himself of his old Independent Colston School motto:
'GO, AND THOU DO LIKEWISE'!

Neither we, nor Dave Cameron, need patriotic people like this!

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fartycat says...
5:44pm Wed 3 Mar 10

If Dave Cameron doesn't need Cashcroft then why hasn't he sacked him yet? The Tories are hoping this all fades away and that people will forget. Let's hope they don't.

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roysses says...
6:40pm Thu 4 Mar 10

contric
They are not "all the same"
In Bournemouth East we have a Tory getting expenses for his "second home" in Bournemouth, or a local woman who is down to earth and just like you and me, but with passion to work for the area. Check on http://www.lisanorth
over.com/

If anyone was thinking of voting for Labour here they stand no chance. Its best to vote LibDem to get the Tory out

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AKKA says...
1:24am Fri 5 Mar 10

Small Party candidates fund their own campaigns and can't even get the media to name them, let alone give publicity until they absolutely have to.
This country has fake democracy. It is loaded towards the old tripartite system and better, more honest people are blocked.
Jim Knight and Richard Drax were conspicuously absent during the Mike and Jason Campaign but as soon as the men were home, out of the woodwork they came to claim credit.
The real battle was waged by William Dartmouth MEP who went to the Hungarian Embassy in London, to the prison in Budapest and spoke up for them in the EUP.
For that, he was called "the criminals' friend" by "Liberal" "Democrat" MEP Graham Watson.
Of course, William Dartmouth being a UKIP MEP meant that he was not mentioned once in any media report.

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