Investigation reveals Tufton Street think tanks behind mini budget have given millions to the Tory election campaign
A major investigation has revealed millions of pounds has been given to the Conservative Party by Tufton Street think tanks linked to Liz Truss’s disaster mini-budget.
Journalists Lucas Amin and Peter Geoghegan, behind the newsletter Democracy for Sale, have exposed alongside the Mirror and Led By Donkeys that Rishi Sunak’s general election campaign is being pumped with money from the bosses and leading advisors of three influential right-wing think tanks.
Since Rishi Sunak replaced Truss in 2022, over £5.5m has been donated to the Tories by the Tufton Street groups who aim to influence government policies, the investigation has found.
Those leading the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) and Policy Exchange (PE) have collectively given more than £35m to the Tories in the last two decades. They are widely credited with creating Truss’s mini-budget.
The CPS has claimed to be ‘non-partisan’ and ‘independent’, while six of its 16 company directors have given donations worth £21.9mn to the Tory Party.
The right-wing think-tanks have also been notoriously secretive about their donors despite pressure to be transparent and having received money from the oil and gas sector.
Darren Jones, Labour’s shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury told the investigation: “Sunak was happy to reward the people who crashed the economy with seats in the Lords, and now put them firmly in the driving seat of his campaign.”
Read more about the investigation here.
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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