More Tory donors placed in charge of cultural institutions alongside Tory MPs and former MPs to keep Tory views and politics in charge of everything
> Boris Johnson has appointed six Tory donors to help run the country’s leading cultural institutions since entering Downing Street after an appeal to party backers to help “rebalance the representation” on public bodies.
> The donors, who have between them contributed more than £3m to party coffers, were appointed by the prime minister to the boards of the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate and the British Museum.
> One of the latest appointments to be announced is Howard Shore as a trustee of the Tate. The investment banker has contributed £1.75m to the party as an individual and through his firm Shore Capital. Former Tory culture secretary Lord Vaizey was also appointed a trustee at the same time.
> **Peter Riddell, the former commissioner for public appointments, has warned of a “more intensive effort” to appoint political figures to public institutions.**
> **It has emerged that Tory officials have been keen for donors to apply for public roles, circulating openings on public bodies to its donors. An email from party headquarters to donors in August 2019, the month after Johnson became PM, said: “We thought you may be interested in the latest list of public appointments. It is important Conservatives rebalance the representation at the head of these important public bodies.”**
> The Tory donors appointed by Johnson to leading cultural institutions include John Booth, who was made a trustee of the National Gallery in August last year. Booth has donated more than £200,000 to the Tory party.
> In September businessman David Ross was reappointed as chair of the National Portrait Gallery. Ross helped arrange accommodation for a holiday in Mustique for Johnson in December 2019 and has given more than £1m to the party. Ross sits on the gallery’s board with Tory MP Chris Grayling, whom Johnson appointed the previous year.
Edit… as well as the Tory donors in public cultural institutions, there’s also Tory donors in non-executive directors in government departments
> There are concerns about appointments which are unregulated or don’t go through a rigorous and transparent selection process.
> The high court ruled last week that the government acted unlawfully and breached equality rules in appointing Baroness Dido Harding as interim chair of the National Institute for Health Protection in August 2020 during the pandemic.
> **The role of non-executive directors in government departments is unregulated and is overseen by the lead non-executive director Lord Nash, a Tory peer who, with his wife, has contributed more than £500,000 to the Conservative party.**
> Tory donors who are non-executive directors include
>* Dominic Johnson, a Tory donor and chief executive of Somerset Capital Management, a firm co-founded by the Brexit minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, at the Department for International Trade
>* Ben Goldsmith, brother of Lord Goldsmith, the international environment minister, at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
>* Ranjit Baxi, a businessman in the recycling industry, at the Department for Transport.
There is a reason why I usually refer to them as the corruption party.
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More Tory donors placed in charge of cultural institutions alongside Tory MPs and former MPs to keep Tory views and politics in charge of everything
> Boris Johnson has appointed six Tory donors to help run the country’s leading cultural institutions since entering Downing Street after an appeal to party backers to help “rebalance the representation” on public bodies.
> The donors, who have between them contributed more than £3m to party coffers, were appointed by the prime minister to the boards of the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate and the British Museum.
> One of the latest appointments to be announced is Howard Shore as a trustee of the Tate. The investment banker has contributed £1.75m to the party as an individual and through his firm Shore Capital. Former Tory culture secretary Lord Vaizey was also appointed a trustee at the same time.
> **Peter Riddell, the former commissioner for public appointments, has warned of a “more intensive effort” to appoint political figures to public institutions.**
> **It has emerged that Tory officials have been keen for donors to apply for public roles, circulating openings on public bodies to its donors. An email from party headquarters to donors in August 2019, the month after Johnson became PM, said: “We thought you may be interested in the latest list of public appointments. It is important Conservatives rebalance the representation at the head of these important public bodies.”**
> The Tory donors appointed by Johnson to leading cultural institutions include John Booth, who was made a trustee of the National Gallery in August last year. Booth has donated more than £200,000 to the Tory party.
> In September businessman David Ross was reappointed as chair of the National Portrait Gallery. Ross helped arrange accommodation for a holiday in Mustique for Johnson in December 2019 and has given more than £1m to the party. Ross sits on the gallery’s board with Tory MP Chris Grayling, whom Johnson appointed the previous year.
Edit… as well as the Tory donors in public cultural institutions, there’s also Tory donors in non-executive directors in government departments
> There are concerns about appointments which are unregulated or don’t go through a rigorous and transparent selection process.
> The high court ruled last week that the government acted unlawfully and breached equality rules in appointing Baroness Dido Harding as interim chair of the National Institute for Health Protection in August 2020 during the pandemic.
> **The role of non-executive directors in government departments is unregulated and is overseen by the lead non-executive director Lord Nash, a Tory peer who, with his wife, has contributed more than £500,000 to the Conservative party.**
> Tory donors who are non-executive directors include
>* Dominic Johnson, a Tory donor and chief executive of Somerset Capital Management, a firm co-founded by the Brexit minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, at the Department for International Trade
>* Ben Goldsmith, brother of Lord Goldsmith, the international environment minister, at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
>* Ranjit Baxi, a businessman in the recycling industry, at the Department for Transport.
There is a reason why I usually refer to them as the corruption party.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/295ea650-91a2-11ec-ba83-35d92f80c266?shareToken=28cf5eabeb1f88dd7bdc4fcbb3101112
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Damning.
FUCK BUSINESS
Unless you donate to the corruption party.