Peter Cruddas, the billionaire City tycoon, has donated £500,000 to the Tories after Boris Johnson overruled advice from the official Appointments Commission and made him a peer. Lord Cruddas – a long-time Tory donor – gave the the Conservative party the donation on February 5th, three days after his appointment to the House of Lords. Boris Johnson overturned the advice, describing concerns as “historic” and praising Cruddas’s “outstanding contributions in the charitable sector”. According to the House of Lords Appointments Commission, this is the first time the organisation’s advice has been ignored. Cruddas has given over £3.5 million to the Tories on top of the £1.5 million he gave to the Vote Leave campaign – which he co-founded.
The Appointments Commission advised against Peter Cruddas’ nomination due to a supposed “cash for access” scandal that was in fact a stitch up – of which he was cleared. In 2012, the Electoral Commission ruled that there was no evidence that rules had been broken and Cruddas won £180,000 in damages from The Sunday Times. Guido can’t understand why – given he was cleared – that the Appointments Commission raked over the old story…
