Former Conservative MP went on to join the hard-right party funded by Jeremy Hosking
www.thetimes.co.uk
The former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen took millions in personal loans from a financier before joining the donor’s controversial new political party.
Bridgen, who was expelled by the Tories in April but remains in parliament, received £3.9 million in loans from Jeremy Hosking to help fund a legal battle with his brother over the Bridgen family’s potato farm.
Bridgen, who represents North West Leicestershire, has denied the funding can be linked to political business, saying it solely related to a private and personal matter, but has now declared the sums to the Commons registrar because “with regard to quantum of assistance, the guidelines are more clear-cut”.
The issue of Conservative MPs
defecting to other right-wing parties has become more prominent after Lee Anderson, the deputy chairman, alleged that Reform UK had
offered him a job if he were to defect. Its leader, Richard Tice, denied offering money to Anderson or any other MP.
Bridgen lost the legal case against his brother and was branded “dishonest” by a judge. He was ordered to pay an £800,000 settlement and evicted from his country home after the dispute, which was covered by loans from Hosking.
There is no requirement for Hosking to have ensured disclosure of the loans, which is Bridgen’s responsibility, and there is no allegation of wrongdoing by the donor.
Bridgen is the only MP for the hard-right Reclaim Party, led by the actor turned right-wing populist Laurence Fox. Hosking is the party’s primary funder, having given it £3.2 million since 2020.
Hosking has given right-wing parties and Brexit campaigners £8.9 million since 2009, including £1.8 million to Vote Leave, £2.2 million to Reform UK, £230,000 to the
Conservative Party and its MPs and £150,000 to Labour Leave.
The financier, who has a stake in Crystal Palace FC, made his money in the City as an investment manager. Outside of politics he is among the country’s foremost collectors of steam trains.
The legal battle between Bridgen and his brother came after the MP had accused AB Farms of forcing him out of a £93,000-a-year second job that required him to attend a monthly board meeting. The judge found that rather than being bullied out of the job, as he alleged, Bridgen resigned in order to reduce the amount he might owe his first wife, Jackie, in divorce proceedings.
Judge Brian Rawlings also found that Bridgen pressured a police inspector in his parliamentary constituency to launch a costly one-year investigation into allegations against his estranged younger brother, Paul Bridgen, 55, who runs the firm.
Bridgen has declared £43,600 in interest-free loans to cover accommodation costs of his constituency home from Hosking, as well as payments for political consultancy worth £75,000 and other support in relation to an unspecified legal matter worth £12,400 from Reclaim.
According to court documents, Bridgen also launched proceedings against Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, in May for calling him an antisemite on Twitter, after Bridgen compared the
Covid-19 vaccination programme to the Holocaust. The claim form states that Bridgen is seeking £75,000 in damages from Hancock.
In response to the AB Farms judgement, Bridgen last year told The Sunday Times that “we live in an imperfect world” and said his legal team were “exploring all avenues with regard to legal options to obtain a just outcome”.
“If courts always got everything correct the first time there would be no need for appeal mechanisms,” he said, adding: “With regard to the legal disputes with the shareholders of the companies of which I am a major shareholder and with Matt Hancock, both of these cases remain ongoing and I will make statements when they are resolved.
“I would also point out any sum awarded by the court and any unspent legal funds regarding the action against Matt Hancock will all be going to a charity supporting the vaccine-injured and bereaved.”
Hosking said: “The record shows that Andrew Bridgen has been robust, courageous and above all independent in his parliamentary activities. I should state to you categorically that as far as I am aware, there has been no political or financial impropriety whatsoever in my relationship with Bridgen.”
Bridgen was suspended from the Conservative Party in January over his comments regarding the Covid-19 vaccine. He was then expelled outright in April.