Editing Conservative Party (UK) (section)

==== Financial ties to Russian oligarchs ====
The Conservative Party has received funding from [[Russian oligarchs]], beginning in the early 2000s, for which it has been criticised.<ref name="NYTBradley">{{Cite news|last=Bradley |first=Jane |title=Major Donation to U.K. Conservative Party Was Flagged Over Russia Concerns |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=12 May 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/world/europe/russian-money-uk-tories.html |access-date=4 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=23 February 2022 |title=These are the Conservative Party's secretive links to Russia |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/19946067.uk-conservative-partys-links-russian-money-donors/ |access-date=4 August 2023 |website=The National |language=en |archive-date=4 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804070828/https://www.thenational.scot/news/19946067.uk-conservative-partys-links-russian-money-donors/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Scrutiny became more prominent after [[Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum|alleged interference]] in the [[2016 Brexit referendum]] by the Kremlin to support the [[Vote Leave|Vote Leave campaign]], and increased after the ''[[Intelligence and Security Committee Russia report|Intelligence and Security Committee Russia]]'' report into [[Russian interference in British politics]] was published in July 2020. Concerns over Conservative Party funds have become increasingly controversial due to Vladimir Putin's human rights abuses and the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]].<ref name="PoliticoWebber">{{Cite news |last=Webber |first=Esther |title=Why Britain's Tories are addicted to Russian money |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-tories-russian-money-oligarch/ |date=7 March 2022 |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=[[Politico]] |archive-date=4 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804070827/https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-tories-russian-money-oligarch/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

One of the first was Lubov Chernukhin, wife of former deputy finance minister and investment company [[VEB.RF]] founder [[Vladimir Chernukhin|Vladmir Chernukhin]], who had donated north of £2.2 million as of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ungoed-Thomas |first=Jon |date=26 March 2022 |title=Russian-born husband of Tory donor 'earned millions via oligarch connections' |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/26/russian-born-husband-of-tory-donor-earned-millions-via-oligarch-connections |access-date=4 August 2023 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref><ref name="FinCEN Files reporting team 2020 i036">{{cite web | author=FinCEN Files reporting team | title=FinCEN Files: Tory donor Lubov Chernukhin linked to $8m Putin ally funding | website=BBC News | date=20 September 2020 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54228079 | access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref> Donations to British political parties is only legal for citizens; the individuals who donated to the party had dual UK-Russian citizenship, and the donations were legal and properly declared.<ref name="Greenwood Midolo O'Neill Fisher 2020 m974">{{cite news | last1=Greenwood | first1=George | last2=Midolo | first2=Emanuele | last3=O'Neill | first3=Sean | last4=Fisher | first4=Lucy | title=Conservative Party ministers bankrolled by donors linked to Russia | newspaper=[[The Times]] | date=23 July 2020 | url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/conservative-party-ministers-bankrolled-by-donors-linked-to-russia-2hm5jhwpx | access-date=17 August 2023 | archive-date=17 August 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817140032/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/conservative-party-ministers-bankrolled-by-donors-linked-to-russia-2hm5jhwpx | url-status=live }}</ref> However, an investigation conducted by ''[[The New York Times]]'' shortly after the invasion of Ukraine determined that a £399,810 donation made by British-Israeli businessman [[Ehud Sheleg]] in 2018 was in fact given directly to him by his father-in-law, Russian oligarch [[Sergei Kopylov|Sergei Kopytov]]. Kopytov, a former minister in Russian-occupied Crimea, has strong ties to Vladimir Putin's government.<ref name="NYTBradley" /> [[Barclays Bank]] reported that in January 2021, they "[traced] a clear line back from this donation to its ultimate source", and reported it accordingly to the [[National Crime Agency]].<ref name="NYTBradley" />

An investigation by the [[Good Law Project]] found that in spite of Johnson's claims that donations from those with links to the Russian government was to stop,<ref name="PoliticoWebber" /> since the start of the war, the Conservatives have accepted at least £243,000 from Russia and Kremlin-associated donors.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 April 2023 |title=Revealed: The Tories are still receiving funds from Russia-linked donors |url=https://goodlawproject.org/revealed-the-tories-are-still-receiving-funds-from-russia-linked-donors/ |access-date=4 August 2023 |website=Good Law Project |language=en-GB |archive-date=4 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804070827/https://goodlawproject.org/revealed-the-tories-are-still-receiving-funds-from-russia-linked-donors/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 2022, the Labour Party used Electoral Commission information to calculate that donors who had made money from Russia or Russians had given £1.93m to either the Conservative party or constituency associations since [[Premiership of Boris Johnson|Boris Johnson's premiership]] began.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Peter |date=23 February 2022 |title=Party funding linked to Russia – how much have Tories benefited? |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/23/oligarchs-funding-tories |access-date=4 August 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Then-party leader Liz Truss said that the donations would not be returned, stating that they had been "properly declared".<ref name="Gutteridge 2022 c850">{{cite web | last=Gutteridge | first=Nick | title=Tories will keep Russia-linked donations totalling £1.93 million, says Liz Truss | website=The Telegraph | date=23 February 2022 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/02/23/tories-will-keep-russia-linked-donations-totalling-193-million/ | access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref>