Tories’ biggest donor accused of saying Diane Abbott ‘makes you want to hate black women’
A businessman who became the biggest ever donor to the Conservative party earlier this year has been accused of saying Diane Abbott MP makes people ‘want to hate all black women’.
Frank Hester, who gave £5 million to the party last month to bring his total donations over the past year to £10 million, is alleged to have made the remarks at a meeting in 2019.
A report in the Guardian quoted him as saying Ms Abbott, who was suspended as a Labour MP in April last year, ‘should be shot’.
The newspaper said the healthcare tech boss told his colleagues he did not hate all black women before making his remarks about the politician.
He is also alleged to have defended himself against online allegations he made racist remarks before saying: ‘We take the p**s out of the fact that all our Chinese girls sit together in Asian corner.’
Lawyers for Mr Hester, 57, told the Guardian his comments had been distorted and taken out of context.
They have since said that Mr Hester tried to phone Ms Abbott twice today to personally apologise.
Last year, the founder and CEO of health software company The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) was included in the Sunday Times Rich List as being worth £415m – making him the joint-321st richest person in the country.
He was awarded an OBE for services to healthcare in the 2015 New Year’s Honours list.
According to the Guardian, Mr Hester made the remarks during a meeting at TPP’s headquarters five years ago while speaking about a different organisation’s executive.
He is alleged to have said: ‘Honestly I try not to be sexist but when I meet somebody like [the executive], I just …
‘It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot.
‘[The executive] and Diane Abbott need to be shot. She’s stupid… If we can get [the executive] being unprofessional we can get her sacked.
‘It’s not as good as her dying. It would be much better if she died. She’s consuming resource. She’s eating food that other people could eat. You know?’
A spokesperson for TPP told Metro.co.uk: ‘Frank Hester accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbot in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin.
‘The Guardian is right when it quotes Frank saying he abhors racism, not least because he experienced it as the child of Irish immigrants in the 1970s.
‘He rang Diane Abbott twice today to try to apologise directly for the hurt he has caused her, and is deeply sorry for his remarks.
‘He wishes to make it clear that he regards racism as a poison which has no place in public life.’
The Guardian reported that TPP’s legal team said a significant proportion of the company’s workforce comes from minority ethnic backgrounds, and that it was a diverse and inclusive place to work.
They are also reported to have said Mr Hester wanted to make his young Asian employees feel welcome and integrated in the company.
The lawyers are said to have additionally pointed at the businessman’s support for a party led by Rishi Sunak, the UK’s first British Asian prime minister, as an example of him embracing diversity.
A spokesperson for TPP told the newspaper: ‘As the safe and trusted custodians of 80m medical records in the UK and around the world, we always hire the best people for the job, regardless of race, gender, sexuality or any other characteristic.
‘We take care of our people and celebrate diversity in our workplace. We reward our staff well, encouraging them to work collaboratively, to take ownership of their responsibilities, and to demonstrate the commitment and professionalism that the NHS, patients and our customers around the world deserve.
‘Having recently witnessed the tragic consequences that can be caused when software systems of major public services fail, we are proud to demand the highest standards of our staff to ensure we can continue to safely and reliably support our health service.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted the company’s lawyers Carter-Ruck, and the Conservative party for comment.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.