June 9, 2008
Are the millionaire donors still in love with the Labour party?
Some speculation over the weekend about Sir Richard Caring, owner of The Ivy, Annabel’s and Le Caprice. The perma-tanned millionaire has given a constituency donation to Michael Gove, Tory shadow schools spokesman. He is an obvious target for Conservative fund-raisers.
Caring - a friend of Sir Philip Green - is still awaiting the repayment of a £2m loan due from the Labour party, borrowed when Tony Blair was in charge.
What about the other millionaires who bailed out Labour over three years ago?
For example, it will be interesting to see whether Andrew Rosenfeld, who made a fortune in the property business, will be seduced by the resurgent Tories.
After all, Rosenfeld - who lent £1m to Labour before the 2005 election - is hardly a natural bedfellow of Britain’s supposedly left-wing party. In 2001 the c0-founder of Minerva, a property developer, was so in with the Tory crowd that he was interviewed for the post of Conservative Party treasurer. For him to switch sides again would not exactly be out of character.
Incidentally, Rosenfeld is one of the millionaires currently negotiating a block deal with Labour to delay the repayment of more than £10m of loans falling due within two years. If the talks were going well we would have heard something by now; surely?
