I’ve had a quick look at donations from Richard Desmond and his company – Northern & Shell. This is the same guy that Robert Jenrick helped out when he rushed through a decision to approve his development project in January just so Desmond could avoid paying a £45million community levy. Desmond donated £12,000 to the Tory party a fortnight after permission was granted.
How did Desmond manage to get such a generous concession for so little money you might ask? Well, let’s take a look at his track record of political donations….
11th December 2014 – Donated £300,000 to UKIP
17th April 2014 – Donated £1,000,000 to UKIP
29th Septemeber 2017 – Donated £10,000 to the Tories
29th January 2010 – Donated £12,000 to the Tories
According to the Electoral Commission, three of the donations were made by his company (Northern & Shell) and the last one was directly from Richard Desmond, which hint’s that there may have been some urgency on Desmonds part to get the payment through.
Anyone who’s ever worked as an account holder (like I have) knows that if you want to land the big fish you have to offer them teasers and slowly build up a relationship. You also know that big clients often expect a great deal from you before they’d ever consider switching to a new provider. In this case, it’s not what Desmond paid out but what you know he’s capable of spending with you.
