A major party donor to Britain’s Conservative Party has been exposed for having made “abhorrent” racist and sexist comments against Diane Abbott — the country’s longest-serving black MP, back in 2019.
This week, The Guardian newspaper published comments made by Frank Hester in 2019, where he said that looking at Abbott made him “want to hate all Black women” and that she “should be shot”.
Hester, who has in the past year donated 10 million pounds (AUD$19.3 million) to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s conservative party, has come under fire for his comments, where he said: “It’s like trying not to be racist, but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like, I hate, you just want to hate all Black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all Black women at all, but I think she should be shot.”
On Tuesday this week, Abbott issued a statement expressing her alarm over Hester’s remarks, saying that they were directed towards a public figure who is a visible presence in the community. She also revealed that she does not have a car and often walks and takes public transport.
“It is frightening,” Abbott said. “I am a single woman, and that makes me vulnerable anyway. But to hear someone talking like this is worrying.”
On the same day, Labour leader Keir Starmer described Hester’s comments as “just abhorrent.”
“This apology this morning that is pretending that what was said wasn’t racist or anything to do with the fact she’s a woman,” Starmer told ITV. “I don’t buy that I’m afraid, and I think that it’s time the Tory Party called it out and returned the money.”
The revelations of Hester’s comments has prompted the opposition Labour Party to urge the Conservatives to return the 58-year old’s donations.
In a statement released this week, Hester, who is the founder and CEO of software company The Phoenix Partnership, apologised for making his “rude” comments about Abbott, adding that his remarks “had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin” and that he has tried to apologise to Abbott.
The statement said that he “accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbott in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
“He rang Diane Abbott twice today to try to apologise directly for the hurt he has caused her, and is deeply sorry for his remarks. He wishes to make it clear that he regards racism as a poison, which has no place in public life.”
Abbott became the first Black woman to be elected to the UK Parliament in 1987. The 70-year old is now an independent MP, after she was suspended from the Labour Party in April last year for saying the prejudice experienced by Jewish people was akin to but not the same as racism.
“They undoubtedly experience prejudice,” she wrote last year. “This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable. It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice, but they are not all their lives subject to racism.”
This week, Minister for Women and Equalities Kemi Badenoch defended Abbott, posting on X: “Hester’s 2019 comments, as reported, were racist.”
“Abbott and I disagree on a lot. But the idea of linking criticism of her, to being a black woman is appalling.”
Downing Street has also come out with its own statement condemning Hester’s 2019 comments, calling them “racist and wrong.”
“The prime minister is clear there is no place for racism in public life and as the first British-Asian prime minister leading one of the most ethnically diverse cabinets in our history, the UK is living proof of that fact,” the statement read.