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Ex-Conservative Party donor Arron Banks backing UKIP Ex-Tory donor Arron Banks gives £1m to UKIP
(about 4 hours later)
Former Conservative donor Arron Banks is joining the UK Independence Party and could stand in next May's election. Former Conservative supporter Arron Banks is donating £1m to UKIP.
He will hand over a £100,000 cheque to UKIP leader Nigel Farage. He had been intending to give £100,000 but had raised that to £1m after, he said, William Hague suggested he was a "nobody".
The Tories said Mr Banks's previous donations to them were "nothing like" the £250,000 claimed by UKIP. The former foreign secretary said he had never heard of Mr Banks, who previously gave £25,000 to the Tories.
Commons Leader William Hague said he had never heard of the insurance entrepreneur, and said his defection would "certainly not" overshadow Mr Cameron's party conference speech. Party leader Nigel Farage said he was "delighted" by the donation, which he said would go to support the party's general election campaign.
A spokesman for Mr Farage said earlier that Mr Banks funded the Chipping Sodbury office of the South Gloucestershire Conservatives "to the tune of £250,000 pounds". It follows the defections of two Tory MPs - Mark Reckless and Douglas Carswell.
On Wednesday morning, after news of his defection was announced, Commons Leader William Hague said he had never heard of the insurance entrepreneur.
'Self-made'
The Tories also said Mr Banks's previous donations to them were "nothing like" the £250,000 claimed by UKIP.
Mr Banks told journalists he had been a Conservative "all his life" but said the UK would be better off outside the EU, which he described as a "closed shop for bankrupt countries".
Analysis by political correspondent Ross Hawkins
The ruder their opponents get, the more UKIP like it. Arron Banks says he gave 10 times as much as planned to the party because William Hague suggested he was a nobody.
That suits a party that thrives on playing the outsider. So will the money, of course.
Campaigning costs. Fighting a series of by-elections a few months before a general election won't come cheap. But expectations about the latest announcement were very high.
A man whose name meant nothing to Mr Hague - and many others - before today donating to UKIP won't worry Conservatives nearly as much as defecting MPs.
And it won't come close to overshadowing the tax cuts announced in the prime minister's conference speech.
The businessman, who co-founded the Brightside insurance firm and now runs the Go Skippy business, said he had been upset by Mr Hague's comments and had decided to write a much bigger cheque for the party as a result.
"They (the Conservatives) win when they are conviction politicians," he added. "They do not win when they are as they are now".
Mr Banks said he was "absolutely convinced" that other business people would seek to "bankroll" UKIP in the run-up to next year's general election.
Mr Farage said his new recruit had "bitten back" in the face of Conservative barbs.
He said the party needed money as it did not have access to funding from the trade unions or the financial support available to opposition parties in the House of Commons.
Speaking earlier in Birmingham, Mr Hague said: "The conference has fully moved on from the defection of one MP on Saturday and the gentleman you're talking about is not a senior figure in this party not someone I know at all."
UKIP received another £1 million donation towards their European election campaign earlier this year from businessman Paul Sykes, who is also a former Conservative Party donor.
UKIP and the Conservatives are at odds over how much Mr Banks gave to the Tories.
A spokesman for Mr Farage had said Mr Banks funded the Chipping Sodbury office of the South Gloucestershire Conservatives "to the tune of £250,000 pounds".
But the Conservative Party agent in Chipping Sodbury, Sonia Williams, said the support given by Mr Banks was "nothing like the order of magnitude" of the sums claimed by UKIP.But the Conservative Party agent in Chipping Sodbury, Sonia Williams, said the support given by Mr Banks was "nothing like the order of magnitude" of the sums claimed by UKIP.
She said the office in Chipping Sodbury was donated to the party "about 50 years ago", estimating that the total support given by Mr Banks was "probably around the £22,000 mark". Donations
She said the office in Chipping Sodbury was donated to the party "about 50 years ago", estimating total support given by Mr Banks was "probably around the £22,000 mark".
The Conservatives say Mr Banks donated a total of £25,000, split between two Conservative branches and loaned £75,000 to one branch in 2007. They said he had not made any donations since 2009.The Conservatives say Mr Banks donated a total of £25,000, split between two Conservative branches and loaned £75,000 to one branch in 2007. They said he had not made any donations since 2009.
These figures were confirmed by the Electoral Commission, which said the two recorded donations were of £20,000 in 2007 and £5,000 in 2009.These figures were confirmed by the Electoral Commission, which said the two recorded donations were of £20,000 in 2007 and £5,000 in 2009.
It said the £75,000 loan had been made by a company called Panacea Finance, part of the Brightside insurance group co-founded by Mr Banks.It said the £75,000 loan had been made by a company called Panacea Finance, part of the Brightside insurance group co-founded by Mr Banks.
Mr Banks follows Tory MPs Mark Reckless and Douglas Carswell in switching allegiance from the Conservatives to UKIP in recent weeks.
'Significant move'
Mr Banks, who runs the insurance company Go Skippy, said the UK remaining in the European Union was "unsustainable" economically, and said being a member of the EU was like "having a first class ticket on the Titanic".
He criticised Mr Cameron's plans to renegotiate the UK's membership of the EU, saying: "The Conservative Party try to sell us the myth that EU reform is achievable when frankly all Cameron can offer is tinkering around the edges."
Mr Farage said the business community no longer believed Mr Cameron's promises over an in/out referendum on UK membership of the EU.
"This is the beginning of a significant move from the business community who are not prepared to wait for Mr Cameron's referendum," he said.
He added that Mr Banks had expressed an interest in standing as a candidate for UKIP in next year's general election.
Speaking from the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Mr Hague said: "The PM will give a very strong speech today bringing together all our plans.
"The conference has fully moved on from the defection of one MP on Saturday and the gentleman you're talking about is not a senior figure in this party not someone I know at all."
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said there would be relief that the latest Conservative to switch to UKIP was "not a big figure", but added: "Having said that, it is the theme of this conference underlying the surface, which is 'could they stop the Tories winning?'"BBC political editor Nick Robinson said there would be relief that the latest Conservative to switch to UKIP was "not a big figure", but added: "Having said that, it is the theme of this conference underlying the surface, which is 'could they stop the Tories winning?'"
Mr Reckless, the former Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood, announced his decision to defect to UKIP on the eve of the conference.
He said that, as a Tory, he could not keep a promise to "cut immigration while treating people fairly".
The Conservatives say that electing them at next May's General Election is the only way for people to ensure there is a referendum on UK membership of the European Union.The Conservatives say that electing them at next May's General Election is the only way for people to ensure there is a referendum on UK membership of the European Union.
David Cameron said Mr Reckless's defection to UKIP was "senseless and counter-productive".