Fidelity - the Tory "Fund" managers

Hat tip to Labour and Capital blogger Tom P for highlighting how fund managers Fidelity are one of the biggest corporate donors to the Conservative Party. I wonder how many Fidelity policy holders or members of the local government pension scheme (Fidelity Worldwide Investment runs £3 billion of LGPS money) realise that profits from managing their pensions is going to fund David Cameron and George Osbourne?

Check out Tom here at "Another £25,000 donated in April" and "On the trail of a big Tory donor"  (see below)

"Readers of long standing may know that I've blogged a fair bit in the past about the financial and political relationship between asset manager Fidelity and the Conservative Party. On the Peter Cruddas scale, Fidelity are a "Premier League" donor. For example, they gave the Tories £300,000 in the year running up to the 2010 general election. Last year they gave them £100,000. They also employ the MP Srir John Stanley as a consultant. (They also chucked £50,000 at the No2AV campaign in 2011).

Oddly, over the years the way that Fidelity donates to the Tories seems to have changed. So up to 2008 they were listed as "Fidelity Investment Management" with the company reg number 2349713 or sometimes 02349713.

But from 2008 to the start of 2012 they started appearing as "FIL Investment Management", again using the same company reg number. Then, for the remainder of 2012 (three donations of £25,000), they appeared as "FIL Holdings", using the company registration number 6737476.

Since the start of 2013, however, there have been no donations have been reported using any of the previously used names or company registration numbers. Maybe they've stopped, or maybe they are reporting under a different name and company registration number? Or maybe they just didn't donate in Q1? Anyway, I'm keeping an eye on it".

Keep up the good work Tom. Of course, you do wonder why the very highly paid directors of Fidelity choose to give all this money to the "tax cuts for millionaires" Party? 

Search the Money

"Search the Money" is a great new website that scrutinises donations to the Conservative Party, hospitality to MPs and constituency parties. It also allows you to check if "your MP has

been doing some private work on the side".

While I think it is corrupt and corrupting that billionaires such as Lord Ashcroft are able to pour millions of pounds to support Tory candidates.  At least it is his own money.

Public companies that donate shareholder money to the Tories are simply beyond the pale.  What possible reason can there be for doing this apart from the desire to buy political influence and power?

I also hope that private companies that donate to the Tories are held to account. Companies such as Fund Mangers Fidelity, who are the biggest company donors to the Tories yet they fail to declare it to its clients and policy holders. Many local government pension funds employ Fidelity as a fund manager. UNISON members would be furious if they realised that profits from managing their pensions is being used to fund the Tories.     

The site will also keep an eye on the private earnings of Tory MPs and possible conflicts of influence. I don't think it is necessarily always wrong that MPs have private earning but how on earth can Tory MP Simon Reevell justify topping up his obvious pittance as a MP of only £65k with a whooping £165k as a lawyer? How can he be a full time MP? 

I completely refuse to accept any comparison with the funding of the Labour Party by trade unions.  Trade unions donations are individual affiliations freely made by trade union members who can chose whether or not to pay the levy fee. If my pension fund employed Fidelity in most schemes I would have little or no choice on the matter. 

Picture is by Hogarth "Humours of an Election".

Hat tip to Mlle Witherington