Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The rightwing party Reform UK accepted a political donation from disgraced financier Crispin Odey two months after he was accused of sexual misconduct.
A Financial Times investigation in June reported claims from 13 women against Odey over alleged sexual misconduct carried out over decades. The financier, who strenuously denies the allegations, was ejected from the eponymous Odey Asset Management.
The Electoral Commission on Thursday published updated records showing that Reform UK accepted £10,000 from Odey in August 2023, by which point a further six women had come forward with claims of sexual misconduct. Odey did not respond to a request for comment regarding those additional allegations.
The donation was originally filed by Reform UK as being made by the Independent Investment Management Initiative, an industry think-tank.
Richard Tice, leader of the party, confirmed the donation had been received from Odey. He said the donation was logged incorrectly due to a “simple clerical error” and was “corrected as soon as it was spotted”.
Asked whether the party was aware of claims against Odey when it accepted the donation, Tice said he did not “read the FT every day of the week. It’s a trendy lefty newspaper.”
“We make our judgments on what we think is correct. Crispin Odey is on the electoral roll and he has not been found guilty of anything as far as I’m aware,” Tice told the Financial Times. “In the UK we have the simple principle of innocent until proven guilty.”
Odey was a director of IIMI between June 2010 and December 2012, according to company filings.
The IIMI said: “The IIMI is a not-for-profit organisation, has never made any political donations, nor does it intend to do so. The IIMI has worked with thousands of individuals at member firms since its establishment in 2010.”
Reform UK was founded by arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage, who remains honorary president and a majority shareholder. It is currently polling at about 10 per cent, according to the FT’s general election poll tracker.
Odey’s donation to Reform UK was first revealed by investigative website DeSmog.
Odey and his eponymous hedge fund donated about £870,000 to pro-Brexit groups in 2016. He also donated £422,000 to rightwing political parties including the Conservatives and Ukip between 2009 and 2019, as well as £10,000 to former prime minister Boris Johnson in 2019.
Odey Asset Management announced in October that it would shut down, five months after allegations were made against its founder, and following a spate of client withdrawals that plunged the hedge fund into a crisis.
Several banks, including JPMorgan Chase, also cut ties from the hedge fund following the FT’s investigation.
The Electoral Commission said it published donation details as “originally reported” and the entry was “amended on our database when the party informed us that it had provided inaccurate donor information”.
Crispin Odey has been contacted for comment.
Additional reporting by Louis Ashworth
