It was all before his time and he can credibly distance himself from the old ways. It was also bad politics because it allowed others to suggest that the bogeymen were funding the Tories, it was bad in principle because sunshine is always the best antidote to corruption in the shadows. Voters rightly don’t like the idea of voting for politicians funded by anonymous mystery men. Of course if it turns out the Tories were funded by Saddam Hussein or Chinese drug barons…