"A Conservative donor who was suspended from the party after being accused of bullying and inappropriate language spent 50,000 last week to have dinner with Kemi Badenoch, the Guardian has learned. Rami Ranger was the successful bidder for the dinner at a Tory fundraising event and will attend the meal with a small group of friends, infuriating those in the party who believe he should not have been readmitted."
"Lord Ranger, who has given more than 1.5m to the Conservatives since 2009, was suspended in 2023 after complaints about remarks he had made to an independent journalist, and separately, about Pakistanis. He was readmitted in November 2024, but lost his CBE soon afterwards. He told the Guardian he was suspended from the party because he had refused to apologise to the complainants."
"I have been a member of the Conservative party since 1978, inspired by Edward Heath, he said. My support, financial and otherwise, has always been grounded in belief in free trade, enterprise, limited bureaucracy, and Britain's competitiveness as a trading nation. Another party backer, however, said: The rehabilitation of Rami Ranger just shows how desperate this Tory party is for money from anywhere."
Rami Ranger, a long-term Conservative donor who was suspended in 2023 over complaints about remarks and about Pakistanis, successfully bid 50,000 for a dinner with Kemi Badenoch at a Tory fundraising event. Ranger has donated more than 1.5m to the party since 2009, was readmitted in November 2024, and subsequently lost his CBE. The 1920s-themed fundraising event at the Peninsula hotel featured high-value lots and reportedly raised around 220,000, with several senior donors competing for the Badenoch dinner. Some party backers criticized Ranger’s readmission as evidence of the party’s financial desperation.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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