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Leading Tory donor Harpin pulls funding, insiders claim
The Guardian
|April 08, 2025
One of the Conservatives' biggest donors has stopped funding the party in a move insiders believe will result in the closure of its northern HQ, the Guardian can reveal.
Richard Harpin, the founder of the home repairs business HomeServe, has ended his donations to the party, according to two Tory sources.
The decision is a blow to Kemi Badenoch, who is presiding over a diminished and cash-strapped party facing competition for donations from Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
Harpin gave the Conservatives nearly £850,000 in 2024, Electoral Commission records show, and has donated £3.8m to the party since 2008, £2m of which was in cash. Rishi Sunak used a helicopter owned by Harpin for campaign stops in the run-up to last year's general election.
A source close to Harpin said that while he had paused his donations, he remained a strong supporter of the Conservatives.
This story is from the April 08, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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