Damian Collins Dodgy Donation for his December 2019 General Election Campaign

Damian Collins MP for Folkestone & Hythe (pictured) received a dodgy donation for his Dec 2019 General Election Campaign, from a company which does NOT exist.

And when it comes to being dodgy, Damian has history.

Landcap Development Eversley Ltd is a company which was dissolved by voluntary strike off on the 8th January 2019, according to Companies House. However on 02/12/19 it made a dodgy donation of £3,250 to Damian’s General Election Campaign according to the Electoral Commission website.

How could a company which is no longer in existence donate money to Damian’s general election campaign eleven months after it was dissolved?

Under Electoral Commission rules this is NOT permissible, as a company  must be registered as a company at Companies House, and of course Landcap Development Eversley Ltd is NOT registered at Companies House.

The Electoral Commission state in their document: Donations and loans to Members of the UK Parliament  at page 21:

Donations and loans from companies

What makes a company permissible?

A company is permissible if it is:

• registered as a company at Companies House

• incorporated in a Member State of the EU, and

• carrying on business in the UK You must be sure that the company meets all three criteria.

Landcap Development Eversley Ltd is not a registered company at Companies House.  As such, the Donations & loans to Members of Parliament UK document says:

• Damian “must return it [the donation] to the donor within the 30 day period beginning with the date on which you received the donation. If you don’t, you will be deemed to have accepted it, you may commit a criminal offence and we may apply to the courts to have the donation forfeited.”

The donation has NOT been returned in 30 days and as such, Damian may well have committed a criminal offence.

All candidates and parties which took part in the GE campaign in the district ought to raise the issue with the Electoral Commission and Kent Police.

Landcap Development Eversley Ltd were involved in the development of Eversley Park development next to Sandgate Primary School. They gave a £3,000 pound donation in 2015 to the local Folkestone & Hythe Conservative Association.

All donations Damian received and accepted are recorded on the Electoral Commission website.

Moving on, in late November 2019 and early December, Damian Collins MP received the princely sum of £13,250 in donations from four donors. Damian received this money for his Dec 2019 General Election campaign.

The Conservative Party accepted a £125,000 donation from Sir Roger De Haan on the 29/11/2019 and Damian £3,000 for his GE campaign on the 19/12/19.

Sir Roger De Haan needs no introduction. He, like the others are allowed to donate money to who they so choose, as political donations are perfectly legitimate to make, except dodgy donations. But who are the other two donors who donated to Damian’s general election campaign?

The first of the two is Alcaline Limited who donated £3,000 to Damian’s campaign.

Alcaline Ltd  is a company solely owned by David Zaccheo (pictured). Its current accounts show the company is in debt to the tune of £4,785, according to Companies House. The company is registered at Unit V Lympne Industrial Estate, Otterpool Lane Lympne, Hythe, Kent, CT21 4LR.

Alcaline is an  “International Haulage company offering Specialist Road and Air services throughout Europe. Alcaline was founded in 1993 in Kent.”

As we understand, there have been conversations between Mr Zaccheo and Cllr Monk about Alcaline moving its operations from Lympne Industrial Park to the employment land at Otterpool Park. This would make a whole load of sense as they would be closer to J11 and would mean less HGVs travelling off the motorway and down through Newingreen and onto the Lympne Industrial Park.

The final donor to Damian’s general election campaign is Hammill Properties Limited. They donated £4,000 a company owned by Mark Quinn (pictured) and Rakan McKinnon.

Rakan McKinnon was also the person with significant control in Landcap Development Eversely Ltd prior to it being dissolved, according to Companies House.

Mark Quinn and/or his Companies have already donated £126,562.05 to the Labour Party and Conservatives nationally & locally.

As we have said previously, there is an understanding (rarely made explicit) that donations buy political access and favourable consideration in policy development and legislation. Why else would companies, which are bound by law to pursue profits, make these donations?

So Damian Collins MP will you be returning the £3,250 pound donation from Landcap Development Eversley Ltd, a company which does NOT exist? Do you the residents of the district believe it’ll be returned? Only time will tell.

The payment of donations to political parties are legal and legitimate. We do not intend to suggest or imply that any people, companies or other entities included in this blog post have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly. 

The Shepwayvox Team

Journalism for the People NOT the Powerful