Byline Times Free News SiteByline Times Digital / Print EditionSubscriptions + BookshopFree from fear or favour

No tracking. No cookies

SubscriptionsSectionsFactArticles predominantly based on historical research, official reports, court documents and open source intelligence.ArgumentHonestly held opinions and provocative

argument based on current events or our recent reports.ReportageImmersive and current news, informed by frontline reporting and real-life accounts.CultureHistory, music, cooking, travel,

newspaper’s extensive reporting and analysis of the various threats to democracy from populism, oligarchy, dark money and online disinformation.The Cost of Living CrisisByline Times

investigates the causes and consequences of Britain’s biggest recession for 30 yearsThe Crisis in British JournalismByline Times investigates media monopolies, their proximity to

politicians, and how the punditocracy doesn’t hold power to accountIdentity, Empire and the Culture WarByline Times explores the weaponisation of Britain’s past as a key tool in a dark

project of division and distractionThe Coronavirus CrisisByline Times exposes the Government’s dangerous ‘herd immunity’ approach towards the Coronavirus pandemic, as well as how

incompetence and conspiracies contributed to the UK’s shocking death tollCronyism and CorruptionByline Times uncovers the nepotism that greases the wheels of British politics.Russian

InterferenceByline Times leads the way in exposing the anti-democratic influence of the Kremlin over the affairs of other nationsA Hostile EnvironmentJournalists & AuthorsStuart SprayFizza

QureshiDavid HenckeThomas PerrettRevd Joe HawardStaff Writers & ColumnistsHardeep MatharuAdam BienkovJosiah MortimerNafeez AhmedPeter JukesStephen ColegraveRachel DonaldDateThis yearLast

yearAbout & ContactAbout Byline TimesContact Byline TimesSubscribe & Support UsSubscriptionsGift cardsBuy back issuesBuy BooksCrowdfund campaignLog in to your accountIdentity, Empire & the

Culture WarCrisis in British JournalismWar in UkraineClimate EmergencyIsrael-Gaza ConflictInstitutionalising IslamophobiaSearch Subscriptions

FactDark MoneyPotential Conservative Leadership Candidate Robert Jenrick Blames Donation from Dormant Firm On Administrative Error The MP reported a donation from a company that appears to

be inactive in the UK – which his team has now told Byline Times was a mistake

Josiah Mortimer20 May 2024Robert Jenrick, then Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary addressing the 2019 Conservative Party Conference. He later resigned amid cronyism

allegations. Photo: Russell Hart/Alamy Your support matters:

Sign up to emails

Subscribe to Byline Times

SHARE THIS:

MailTwitterFacebookThreadsBluesky Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on ‘what the papers don’t

say’ – without fear or favour.

For digital and print editions, packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, features, and columns….

SUBSCRIBE A senior Conservative MP has registered a £5,000 donation from a company that appears to be inactive – in what could constitute a breach of electoral rules.

Robert Jenrick recently received the donation from ‘Firefly Digital Limited’, which has been registered as ‘dormant’ since 2017, according to filings with Companies House – as journalist

Peter Geoghegan reported on Friday. 

But electoral rules in the UK are explicit that donations can only come from permissible sources – which for firms means that they must be “carrying on business in the UK”. In other words,

they must be actively trading. This rule prevents shell companies being used to funnel improperly cash to political figures, for example, non-Brits living overseas. 

Firefly Digital Limited, however, has filed dormant company accounts for seven years, with the latest records showing assets of just £1 and no profits. This strongly suggests that it is not

actively conducting business within the UK.

Don’t miss a storySIGN UP TO EMAIL UPDATES Firefly Digital Limited is ultimately owned by Hilton Nathanson, a British-Australian hedge fund manager. Nathanson also donated £5,000 to

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove last year. 

Robert Jenrick’s Register of Interests Jenrick was forced to resign as Housing Secretary in 2020 amid a donations scandal, when it emerged that he had overturned a planning inspector’s

decision to award planning permission for a £1 billion property scheme by media tycoon Richard Desmond – just a fortnight before he donated £12,000 to the Conservative Party.

Jenrick said he had no knowledge of Desmond’s donation and claimed that his decision to overrule inspectors was “not unusual”, the BBC reported at the time.

The latest ‘dormant’ accounts from Firefly Digital Ltd After being contacted by Byline Times, a spokesperson for Robert Jenrick blamed an administrative error on the £5,000 donation from

Firefly Digital Limited, which his team said led to the sum being incorrectly registered with the House of Commons authorities. 

“The donation was made from Firefly Capital Limited, a UK trading company,” the spokesperson said. “Unfortunately, an administrative error at our end meant this donation was misregistered as

‘Firefly Digital Limited’.

“As soon as we became [aware] of this error, we liaised with the parliamentary authorities who have agreed to correct the record. This will be reflected in their next update.”

The International Super Rich Bankrolling Robert Jenrick’s Political Ambitions Through Mysterious Companies Campaigners call for electoral laws to be tightened after an Israeli billionaire

and an Australian hedge fund boss use their companies, which made minimal UK profits, to donate £40,000 to the former Immigration Minister

Peter Geoghegan Jenrick has been touted as a potential Conservative leadership contender from the right of the party, should Rishi Sunak stand down following a likely general election

defeat. He has been speaking at a string of hardline events, including ones hosted by the Liz Truss-affiliated group Popular Conservatism, and the Legatum Institute’s ‘Free Market Roadshow’.

It is possible that Byline Times first alerted Jenrick’s team to the issue. The MP’s spokesperson added: “Our office became aware of the error last week and immediately asked for it to be

corrected.”

But Lord Chris Rennard, who has led much of the Liberal Democrats’ work on electoral law, said: “The laws governing the permissibility of donations to parties have been in place since 2000. 

All the parties produce briefings on the subject and there is no excuse for a legislator to fail to make the most basic enquiries showing that the company was registered as dormant and not

doing business in the UK.” 

He added that fears over inappropriate donations were well-founded, calling for “greater transparency and a cap on the size of donations”.

As reported by Byline Times last week, transparency campaigners have raised concerns that individuals can use companies to donate money to politicians.

“The law is intended to provide transparency and controls over the provenance of funds in UK politics, yet it is increasingly clear it does neither sufficiently,” Steve Goodrich, head of

research and investigations at Transparency International, said. “That it can be so hard to identify where corporate donors’ money comes from shows there’s something seriously wrong with the

rules.

EXCLUSIVENearly 300 Parliamentary Lobby Groups Disappear After New Rules on Foreign Funding and Membership Come into Force All Party Parliamentary Groups have long been seen as the ‘next big

scandal’ in lobbying, which the new rules aim to tackle

Josiah Mortimer “As a minimum, businesses should only be able to donate if they can cover these costs from profits generated in the UK within the last two years.”

The Electoral Commission’s guidelines state that, for a company to be a permissible donor, it must be registered at Companies House, incorporated in the UK, and actively carrying on business

in the UK. Dormant companies are specifically flagged as requiring extra scrutiny to ensure compliance. 

Recipients – in this case, Robert Jenrick – are responsible for checking that donations are made within the rules, according to the Electoral Commission. For dormant companies, that can

include checking the company’s latest accounts, websites, and other relevant business activities to see if they are actively trading. 

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission told Byline Times: “The law requires regulated donees [i.e. recipients], such as MPs, to take reasonable steps to ensure that a donation is from a

source that is permissible at the time the donation is received.

“MPs report donations to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. These are then forwarded to us for publication on a monthly basis. Where there is evidence that the law has not been

followed, we may consider it in line with our enforcement policy.”

The remit of the Electoral Commission was significantly weakened by the Elections Act 2022, with it now lacking the power to launch prosecutions. It can only levy relatively small fines. 

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner said it did not comment on individual cases.

If you have a political story or tip-off, email [email protected].

Josiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.

So for more from him…

MyLondon. Prior to that Josiah was a freelancer, and worked for the Electoral Reform Society, the independent democracy group. Josiah reports on UK cronyism, the constitution, and

campaigning. He also writes Byline Times’ monthly On the Ground column in print. If you have a political story that needs reporting, get in touch: [email protected] article was

filed underConservative Party, Dark Money, Democracy, UK Politics

Byline Times is brought to you by a dedicated team of journalists and contributors – producing independent, fearless, investigative and thought-provoking journalism not found in the

established media. We are regulated by Impress.

To find the nearest newsagent stocking this month’s edition, search here.

AboutContactSubscriptions

Complaints

Byline TimesByline InvestigatesByline FestivalByline TVByline SupplementByline BooksByline AudioBylines Network

Byline Media Holdings Ltd, Byline Times & Yes We Work Ltd