A big row over political funding blew up over two candidates in the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency at the weekend.

The more I read about it, the more convinced I became that it was much ado about nothing!

For those who've missed the news. It was revealed that Labour candidate Kevin Craig had given the party £100,000 in the months before his selection in March.

And the father of Conservative candidate Patrick Spencer, a former treasurer of the party, had given it £250,000 as the election was called a few weeks before his selection.

To be honest I don't really see the issue here - unless we want to take the extreme Puritan attitude that no one with personal wealth, or from a wealthy family, should seek political office.

Look at Mr Craig's case. He's a successful businessman who has built a fairly substantial marketing, public relations and lobbying firm employing scores of people from absolutely nothing.

I have no idea of his personal wealth but it's clearly substantial - and why shouldn't he donate some of that to the political party he supports.

His donations are all a matter of public record, which is how they came to light. Had he spent that money on a racehorse who would have battered an eyelid?

What made it a story was the fact that after making the donation he was selected by Labour to contest the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich seat.

Let's be clear about this, on all past performance this is a safe Conservative seat. At the time he was selected in March, it was represented by Dr Dan Poulter who had a 23,000 majority in 2019 - and had been reselected to contest it again.

If you were a millionaire who wanted to "buy" your way into parliament as a Labour MP, would you really choose one of the safest Tory seats in the country as your route? 

One thing that's clear about Mr Craig's career trajectory is that he's not that stupid!

I don't know exactly what the selection process was - but I do know that at the time a substantial number of Labour candidates were being chosen for "safe" Conservative seats and I didn't hear anything about exhaustive selection rounds in any of them.

In Mr Spencer's case it is a matter of public record that his family is extremely wealthy - and his father's numerous donations to the Conservative Party and to philanthropic causes is also very well known.

His selection for the seat came in a contest with two other candidates - and was, I understand, a close call in a constituency where the process had been messy in the extreme.

Constituents hadn't expected there would be any great drama here until Dr Poulter defected from the Tories to Labour in May - and then the selection process was muddied by the interventions of neighbouring MP Tom Hunt and party chairman Richard Holden who both fancied a crack at it.

By the time the selection meeting came along Mr Spencer, who lives in Suffolk, was brought on as a last-minute sub following a row between Messrs Hunt and Holden.

But actually his credentials look impeccable as a wannabe Tory MP - working as a special adviser in education, working for a think tank. And yet his Suffolk home was good for those in the constituency who wanted a "local" candidate.

So did the donation from one of the party's most regular donors in the run-up to the election really swing the decision? I really don't think so.

I can't claim to know either candidate that well, but I suspect I will get to know one of them rather better over the next few months - and I don't think this row will alter that. 

 

The opinions expressed in this column are the personal views of Paul Geater and do not necessarily reflect views held by this newspaper, its sister publications or its owner and publisher Newsquest Media Group Ltd.