A Conservative donor who gave £500,000 to Boris Johnson’s election campaign in 2019 has announced he will vote Labour in next month’s general election.
John Caldwell, founder of mobile phone retailer Phones4U, made the announcement on Tuesday night and was first reported by The Times and the BBC.
Labour said this follows recent talks between Mr Caldwell and Keir Starmer.
Mr Caldwell, 71, said: “For many years now I have felt quite despairing about the performance of the Conservative Party, the party I have supported for the last 51 years. Just five years ago I gave $500,000 to the Conservative Party to help avert what would have been a catastrophe if Jeremy Corbyn had been in Downing Street.”
“But since then I have become increasingly critical of the Conservative party’s failings, in particular Rishi’s mismanagement of the economy during the Covid crisis, Boris’s declining ethical standards and, of course, the related accusations that Conservative cronies profited from the coronavirus pandemic and the failings of Liz Truss.”
“When Labour published its manifesto last Thursday, I was pleased to see that accelerating economic growth was its top priority and that growth projections were clearly linked to making the UK a clean energy powerhouse.
“So I can publicly declare that I will be voting Labour, and I encourage everyone to do the same.”
Speaking about why he decided to support Labour, Mr Caldwell told BBC’s Newsnight: “The real deciding factor was on the Friday, I was at a business conference they were having, where 50 CEOs of the UK’s biggest companies, all with a market capitalisation of £4 trillion, came together.
“The sympathy was clear from Rachel Reeves and other members of the Labour party and from these senior businessmen. It was a great answer to the question of what Labour is going to do about the economy.”
Mr Caldwell added that he agreed with Mr Starmer’s vision of focusing on GDP growth to increase public funding, climate, science and technology.
Responding to Mr Caldwell’s endorsement, Mr Starmer said: “I’m delighted that John, who has a hugely successful track record in business, has today endorsed the transformed Labour Party that I lead.”
“The message is clear: businesses support change and economic stability with Labour, and reject another five years of chaos and decline with the Conservatives.”
“Not only has John voted Conservative, he donated significantly to the Conservative party in 2019, so it is not a decision he has taken lightly, but it is clear that he is sympathetic to the growth agenda that I have set out in the Labour manifesto.”
“While I have always supported the Conservative Party, I will be campaigning non-stop from now until the 4th of July to win the votes of those who believe a change to Labour is the best future for Britain.”
Last September, Mr Caldwell said he would not support Rishi Sunak after his “madness” overturning environment policy.
He admitted he was “surprised beyond shocked” by Chancellor Sunak’s announcement that the ban on new petrol and diesel car sales would be extended from 2030 to 2035.
