Thursday, October 02, 2014

Arron Banks: is it really a good idea to insult former donors when they defect?

So, a former Conservative Party donor leaves the Party to join UKIP and, on hearing a senior figure in his former party say that he hasn't heard of him, decides to give not the £100,000 he originally intended to give, but £1,000,000 instead. Odd, really, on a whole range of levels.

It seems like a curiously unclassy response from William Hague, until you consider that it is entirely possible that he hadn't heard of him at all, especially if the amount was given locally or through a third party, as it seems the bulk of it was. However, the evidence appears to support the notion that Arron Banks had given a sum which, to most people, would be quite a lot of money, even if it wasn't as significant as Nigel Farage and UKIP claim it was.

It is noticeable that Mr Banks has not ruled out rejoining the Conservatives or giving them money, in the event that their views mirror his in the future, so that his sense of insult has hurt them now and, possibly, in the future.

But, I suppose, it might make a few Conservative donors wonder how valued they really are if donations and long-term loans totalling £100,000 elicit a response of "who's he?" from a senior party figure. Instead, how much would it have hurt to say something along the lines of, "I didn't know Mr Banks personally, and I'm not aware as to exactly how much he has given in the past, but I would like to thank him for that support and hope that he might be able to return to the Conservatives in the future."?

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