How secretive ‘dining clubs’ help fund MPs and political parties without scrutiny

In the world of political dining clubs, this anonymity is made possible because they are registered as “unincorporated associations” – largely unregulated entities which are required to reveal very little information about their organisers, members or where their money comes from.

“This means that they could legitimately make donations using funding from otherwise impermissible sources, including from overseas,” they continued. The identities of those running the club are also obscured. Unincorporate associations are only required to provide an address with donations, and over the past decade the United and Cecil Club has been registered to the addresses of a vacant office in Holborn, a residential property in West London and a stable block in Buckinghamshire.was able to uncover details about how this old-fashioned organisation operates.

Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt was a guest speaker at a recent United and Cecil Club dinner The use of unincorporated associations is not unique to the Conservative Party, since 2010 Labour has received more than £600,000 from the Barnes and Richmond Labour Club and Institute – a social group for party members based in south-west London.

Archived versions of the site from 2015 show eight tiers, with the cheapest being the £300-a-year “Fastrack” group offering “formal discussions, panel events and informal drinks receptions” to young professionals. But this stopped in 2018, and the party quietly wiped all mention of all tiers of its donor clubs from its website in 2020.

Russian former investment banker Lubov Chernukhin has given £2.4m to the Conservatives since 2010 including annual donations of £50,000 between 2019 and 2023, as well as three individual donations of £50,000 in 2018.Oluwole ‘Wol’ Kolade, a venture capitalist and non-executive director for NHS England since March 2022, has given over £1m over the same period including regular £50,000 sums each year since 2013.

Sections of parties managing their finances independently from the central party, such as local party associations, must disclose all donations exceeding £2,230.

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