The murky world of political donations

Politicians need to be careful about being seen to do the right thing – and poor judgement can have serious consequences, writes Sean O'Grady

Robert Jenrick unlawfully approved a property scheme by Richard Desmond shortly before the billionaire made a £12,000 donation to the Conservatives (Getty)

Despite everything – the MPs’ expenses scandal of 2009, Neil Hamilton and “cash for questions”, perennial allegations about the “sale” of honours, Brexit referendum irregularities – British political life remains remarkably clean by international and historical standards. Corruption, or anything remotely resembling it, is the exception rather than the rule. That is why the current media allegations about a decision made by Robert Jenrick, the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, are so serious.

It is important to add at this point that there is no suggestion that Mr Jenrick broke any law or made any personal gain. The issue is about how it came to be that Mr Jenrick approved a highly lucrative housing development in the London docklands by the businessman Richard Desmond shortly (a fortnight) before Mr Desmond donated £12,000 to the Conservative party. The development was opposed by the local authority, Tower Hamlets, but their objections were overruled by Mr Jenrick, and approval was given one day before Mr Desmond would have had to pay a development levy to the council – of between £30m and £50m. Altogether the value of the deal is around £1bn.

In this case, the matter is complicated because the council mounted a court appeal and Mr Jenrick accepted that his ruling had been “unlawful by reason of apparent bias”, quashed it, and will not take further part in the proceedings.