Friday 22 November 2019

This election is being bought by "Russian Gold"

What kind of  democracy do we live in where people with money can affect the result of a General Election by donating  large sums to just one party?
The Tories banked large donations worth 26 times those received by Labour in the first week of the election campaign, new figures revealed today.
The Daily Mail reports that
Boris Johnson's party received £5.7million in just seven days, compared with £218,500 given to Jeremy Corbyn's outfit, the Electoral Commission said.
But the cash handed to the Conservative may raise some eyebrows as it includes £200,000 from Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a Russian oligarch with links to Vladimir Putin.
Banker Mrs Chernukhin enjoyed a night out with Theresa May and six female Cabinet members in April after donating £135,000 at a Tory fundraiser.

It took her total contribution to Conservative coffers to more than £1million before her latest payment.
Mr Johnson's ability to pull in such large donations underlines his popularity and boosts his party, which is already ahead in the polls.
But it could also help Labour renew its charge that the Conservatives are the party of billionaires, bankers and big business. 
 I am not sure if it has anything to do with Boris Johnson's popularity, these donors will sesek to do so whoever the Tory leaders is 


The party has insisted that Mrs Chernukhin, now a British citizen, is not a ‘Putin crony’. But the money will raise fresh questions about the Tories’ links to Russia just a year after the Salisbury spy poisoning.
Five years ago, David Cameron faced questions after Mrs Chernukhin successfully bid £160,000 at a party fundraising dinner to play tennis against him and Boris Johnson.
Labour even trailed two of the smaller parties in the fundraising stakes, although it tends to raise more money from smaller donations that fall below the Electoral Commission's £7,500 notification threshold.
Last week it claimed that it had taken more than a million pounds from such gifts.
 'While the Conservative Party is in the pockets of vested interests and the super-rich, we are proud that the Labour Party is funded by hundreds of thousands of people donating what they can afford to build a fairer society,' Labour Chairman Ian Lavery said in response to the figures.
The biggest Conservative backer was John Gore, a developer, producer and distributor of Broadway theatre, who gave 1 million pounds.
The next three largest were the travel company Trailfinders, Countrywide Developers and WA Capital, who each gave 500,000 pounds to the party.
The party also received 200,000 pounds from Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a former Russian minister, the Electoral Commission said.
Stockbrokers Shore Capital donated 250,000
pounds and hedge fund manager Andrew Law gave 200,000 pounds
.

 The influence of Money can be seen in examining the results of Canadian Elextions  who have a similar electoral system to the UK .

However Wikipedia  when displaying the results from Canadian Ridings (Constituencies) include what each party spent


Here are some examples

York Centre

2015 Canadian federal election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMichael Levitt20,13146.88+13.64$108,171.17
ConservativeMark Adler18,89343.99−4.54$139,711.85
New DemocraticHal Berman3,1487.33−8.56$9,236.24
GreenConstantine Kritsonis7721.80−0.54$2,969.38
Total valid votes/Expense limit42,944100.00 $198,977.91
Total rejected ballots3190.74
Turnout43,26367.29
Eligible voters64,297
Liberal gain from ConservativeSwing+9.

Hochelaga (electoral district)

2015 Canadian federal election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticMarjolaine Boutin-Sweet16,03430.89-16.59$64,664.42
LiberalMarwah Rizqy15,53429.93+18.20$19,746.32
Bloc QuébécoisSimon Marchand14,38927.72-3.04$47,613.01
ConservativeAlexandre Dang3,5556.85-0.35$3,363.29
GreenAnne-Marie Saint-Cerny1,6543.19+1.52
RhinocerosNicolas Lemay4110.79+0.26$651.34
CommunistMarianne Breton Fontaine1790.34-0.05
Marxist–LeninistChristine Dandenault1480.29-0.02
Total valid votes/Expense limit51,904100.0 $219,682.85
Total rejected ballots877
Turnout52,781
Eligible voters82,783
These results were subject to a judicial recount,[6] and modified from the validated results in accordance with the Judge's rulings. The margin of Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet over Marwah Rizqy decreased from 541 votes to 500 votes as a result of the recount.[7]
Source: Elections Canada[8][9]

Parkdale—High Park

2015 Canadian federal election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalArif Virani24,62342.04+9.15$118,148.12
New DemocraticPeggy Nash23,56640.24-6.96$143,864.29
ConservativeIan Allen7,64113.05-2.50$16,096.82
GreenAdam Phipps1,7432.98-0.29$4,405.49
LibertarianMark Jeftovic6101.04
MarijuanaTerry Parker1910.33-0.09
Marxist–LeninistLorne Gershuny1000.17±0
IndependentCarol Royer930.16$4,449.41
Total valid votes/Expense limit58,567100.0   $211,869.52
Total rejected ballots269
Turnout58,836
Eligible voters76,95

Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River

2015 Canadian federal election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticGeorgina Jolibois10,31934.15-11.23$26,597.41
LiberalLawrence Joseph10,23733.88+28.62$50,341.46
ConservativeRob Clarke9,10530.14-16.75$83,236.17
GreenWarren Koch5521.83-0.64$1,984.03
Total valid votes/Expense limit30,21399.70 $228,699.20
Total rejected ballots910.30
Turnout30,30468.38
Eligible voters44,320
New Democratic gain from ConservativeSwing+2.76
These results were subject to a judicial recount and modified from the validated results in accordance with the Judge's ruling
OK the winning party is not always the one that spends most and it would take a fair bit of examination over a number of elections to establish any correlation.

If you are a Politics student looking for a dissertation topic it would be worth while considering.

What would be the result if the above expenditure method appeared on the UK results.

However we also need to link the Parties expeditionary outside that counted in a individual consistencies.

For years elections have been bought and now it seems by Russian Gold.

That term was often used to attack the Left in the UK in the Soviet era.

It is ironic that "Russian Gold" is now buying the election for a Right Wing Brexit.


One wonders why there are not cries of Treason from our media , but of course  it suits thymine



a

No comments: