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One of the final two contenders vying to be leader of the Conservative party is facing an investigation by the standards commissioner over campaign donations.
Robert Jenrick, a former Cabinet minister and MP for Newark, came second in the final round of voting on Wednesday with 41 Tory MPs backing him, while Kemi Badenoch leapfrogged her rivals to take first place with 42 votes.
James Cleverly, who came first in Tuesday’s round, was eliminated after he shed two votes to end up with 37 supporters. Jenrick and Badenoch now go head-to-head with Conservative party members having the final say. The winner will be announced on 2 November.
But Jenrick, who has repeatedly faced questions about a series of donations totalling £100,000 that he accepted from a software firm called The Spott Fitness, is now facing a potential investigation from parliament’s standards commissioner.
In a letter to Daniel Greenberg, Labour party chairman Ellie Reeves says that there are “more questions than answers” after entrepreneur Philip Ullman identified himself as the source of the funds. Tortoise had revealed that his only link to the company was via a BVI-listed entity called Centrovalli.
The only names publicly associated with that firm are Moshe and Mark Freed. When approached about the donation last month, Moshe Freed told Tortoise he knew “nothing about this”.
In her letter, Reeves said: “The true source of Mr Jenrick’s donations and therefore whether he has sufficiently carried out due diligence before registering the donations are now in question… The Code of Conduct is informed by the Seven Principles of Public Life which require members to act with openness and honesty. I believe there are sufficient issues with these donations to Mr Jenrick for you to launch an investigation.”
The commissioner is responsible for monitoring the operation of the House of Commons code of conduct and members’ registers, including investigating alleged breaches.
Reeves has already called on the Electoral Commission to carry out its own investigation. The commission said it had yet to make a decision.
Jenrick has previously told journalists it was a “normal” donation, and that he had “registered it in the correct legal manner”. Jenrick’s team has also told Tortoise that Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) had approved the donation. CCHQ did not respond to requests for comment.