Title

A City investment firm has incurred the wrath of six local authorities for making donations to the Conservative Party. Pension fund overseers at the London boroughs of Bromley, Haringey, Greenwich and Ealing, Buckinghamshire CC and Norwich City Council, have attacked Fidelity. All asked for an explanation over the £360,000 donation. The cash, donated over three years, was revealed by the Electoral Commission. The councils also claimed the contributions were both ‘fundamentally wrong' and contrary to the principles of good governance. Fears were raised that Labour Party supporters who had contributed to the pension fund might object to their money being given to a rival political organisation without their consent. Those concerns would be raised with trustees who had been unaware of the donation. John Gray, an observer at Tower Hamlets LBC pension fund, warned that Fidelity risked a potential conflict of interest when bidding for business at Tory-run councils. He said: ‘There are two main issues here. One is of good governance. Obviously if a fund manager or any contractor of the council funds a political party, it's fundamentally wrong. ‘Scheme members are paying their wages and a lot of scheme members who don't support the Conservative party will feel aggrieved that the profits from their scheme are being used to fund a party which is unsympathetic, to say the least, of their interests.' But Fidelity's spokesman, Peter Yandle, played down the significance of the donation and said the company did not lobby politicians on pensions issues. He said: ‘We do not endorse political candidates and generally, we take a non-partisan approach with politics. ‘The Tory party is the only one we have made contributions over the past few years.'

Title

FINANCE

Fidelity questioned after donation to Conservative party is revealed

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING