Sunak 'presiding over terribly racist period for Tories' says ex-party chair

14 March 2024 , 16:23

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Rishi Sunak has come under fire from Baroness Sayeeda Warsi (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak will be remembered for "presiding over a terribly racist period within the party", a former Tory chairwoman has said.

In a scathing attack on the PM, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi warned he will fight a "toxic" election if he fails to return millions of pounds to businessman Frank Hester. Mr Sunak is under mounting pressure to give back more than £10million after it emerged Mr Hester allegedly made racist remarks about Diane Abbott.

Baroness Warsi told Times Radio: "They've got to give the money back. You don't build election campaigns and you don't build political parties on the back of money where an individual has these views.

"I mean, in my view, if any election that is built upon money, which in itself is based upon kind of these divisive, toxic views, it's going to lead to divisive, toxic election campaigns. And I know that the party has more than enough money to be able to give back this £10 million donation."

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has voiced her anger at the state of the party (Getty)

She added that although many had celebrated "the moment when we had a prime minister of colour", the optimism had fallen flat. Baroness Warsi said: "I think, tragically, his tenure will be remembered as him presiding over a terribly racist period within the party."

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It comes as Communities Secretary Michael Gove announced a new definition of extremism would be used to decide if organisations are blacklisted. Baroness Warsi said: "If you look at what he's trying to do via this definition, it is trying to find a frame of words which allows us to act in a much more authoritarian way.

"So if we're going to really protect our freedoms by being more authoritarian, have we actually lost the battle? I don't believe that our democracy is so fragile that protests, on an issue where people in their minds are protesting for peace, is going to undermine the very fabric of our democracy."

The Tories declared £10million in donations from Mr Hester, but it's now emerged they accepted even more. But Mr Hester has donated more cash to the Tories since January - reportedly around £5million, a figure the Tories did not deny.

In a meeting in 2019, Mr Hester said seeing Ms Abbott on TV made him "want to hate all Black women" and that she should be "shot", according to the Guardian. He apologised for being rude but denied his comments had anything to do with her race or her gender.

At PMQs, Mr Sunak said: “The gentleman apologised genuinely for his comments and that remorse should be accepted."

Dave Burke