Matthew Oakeshott
Matthew Oakeshott, Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, is a non-affiliated peer in the House of Lords, originally joining on the 1 May 2000 as a Liberal Democrats peer.[1]
Oakeshott is a third cousin of the Sunday Times journalist Isabel Oakeshott.[2]
Leaving the party
Oakeshott left the Liberal Democrats in 2014 after he privately commissioned polls in the Lib Dems main seats in the UK to find out whether party leader Nick Clegg stepping down would affect voting. After leaving the party, Oakeshott said the Lib Dems are heading towards disaster with Clegg leading them and have lost their 'roots, values and principles'.[3]
Donations
In January 2015 it was revealed, in the last few months Oakeshott had donated £600,000 to thirty Labour and fifteen left of centre Liberal Democrat election candidates in an attempt to create an Ed Miliband-led progressive government. The seven sitting Lib Dem MPs to receive a money are Norman Baker, Lorely Burt, Tessa Munt, John Pugh, Martin Horwood, Adrian Sanders and Jenny Willott. Of the thirty Labour candidates, twenty-nine are attacking Tory marginals with small majorities and the other, Melanie Onn is fighting to hold her seat against Ukip. The Labour candidates include those in Carlisle, Hastings and Rye, Hove, and Brighton Kempton in the south; Gloucester and Kingswood in the west; and Great Yarmouth and Peterborough in the east. Another £10,000 has been given to the campaign to re-elect Caroline Lucas of the Green Party, MP for Brighton.
Oakeshott described his donations as, "doing his bit to save our country from a Tory government cringing at Ukip".[4]
Political Donations
Recorded by the Electoral Commission:
| Date | Name of donor | Amount | Donated to | Subsidiary (parties only) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27/02/2005 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £1,250.00 | Anthony Rowlands | |
| 04/02/2005 | Lord Oakeshott | £4,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Central Party |
| 30/06/2005 | Lord Oakeshott | £6,750.00 | Liberal Democrats | Central Party |
| 06/03/2006 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £5,000.00 | Chris Huhne MP | |
| 26/11/2007 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £5,000.00 | Chris Huhne MP | |
| 31/12/2007 | Lord Oakeshott | £5,500.00 | Liberal Democrats | Central Party |
| 06/02/2008 | Lord Oakeshott | £5,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Central Party |
| 31/03/2010 | Lord Oakeshott | £2,500.00 | Liberal Democrats | Vauxhall |
| 30/06/2010 | Lord Oakeshott | £2,500.00 | Liberal Democrats | Central Party |
| 31/12/2010 | Lord Oakeshott | £8,500.00 | Liberal Democrats | Central Party |
| 31/12/2011 | Lord Oakeshott | £4,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Parliamentary Party In The Lords |
| 30/11/2012 | Lord Oakeshott | £4,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Parliamentary Party In The Lords |
| 27/06/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £6,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Twickenham & Richmond |
| 14/04/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £4,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Parliamentary Party In The Lords |
| 21/04/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £3,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Wells |
| 31/12/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £20,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Harrogate & Knaresborough |
| 26/11/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £20,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Berwick Upon Tweed |
| 31/12/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £3,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Central Party |
| 21/11/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £20,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Winchester |
| 23/11/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £20,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | West Dorset |
| 31/12/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £20,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Watford |
| 31/12/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £20,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Somerton & Frome |
| 31/12/2014 | Lord Oakeshott | £20,000.00 | Liberal Democrats | Mid Dorset & North Poole |
| 10/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Worcester CLP |
| 22/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Warrington South CLP |
| 08/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Thurrock CLP |
| 28/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Stockton South CLP |
| 30/11/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Rossendale and Darwen CLP |
| 31/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Nuneaton CLP |
| 18/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Norwich North and South CLP |
| 10/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £482,947.50 | Labour Party | Kingswood CLP |
| 18/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Great Grimsby CLP |
| 31/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Gloucester CLP |
| 16/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Erewash CLP |
| 24/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Ealing Central and Acton CLP |
| 10/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Dewsbury CLP |
| 10/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £20,000.00 | Labour Party | Cities of Brighton and Hove Labour Party |
| 19/11/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Carlisle CLP |
| 10/12/2014 | Lord Matthew Oakeshott | £10,000.00 | Labour Party | Bury North CLP |
External Resources
- George Parker, Liberal Democrats fear Conservative election grip, FT.com, 30 November 2011.
Notes
- ↑ Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, House of Lords, accessed 2 December 2011.
- ↑ George Eaton, Did the Lib Dems know about Huhne's points swap?, New Statesman, 7 March 2013.
- ↑ Oakeshott quits Lib Dems with Clegg 'disaster' warning BBC News, 28 May 2014, accessed 26 January 2015
- ↑ Patrick Wintour Ex-Lib Dem peer donates to old party and Labour to boost anti-Tory drive Guardian, 21 January 2015, accessed 26 January 2015
- ↑ Electoral Commission, Donation Search, accessed 3 March 2015
