Badenoch moves to revive Conservative donors’ advisory board

Mace | 7th November 2025 | Jobs, Moves, Politics

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, is preparing to relaunch an exclusive advisory board for high-value donors. The board previously provided donors access to senior ministers and was disbanded. The party says it is a new format. The move comes amid fundraising challenges and pressure from rival parties.

Kemi Badenoch is preparing to reinstate a high-value donor advisory board at the Conservative Party. The board is expected to provide major contributors with structured access to senior party figures including the leader and shadow cabinet. The advisory board was originally disbanded in 2021 following controversy over “cash for access”. Sources familiar with the board’s revival say the new version would operate in a different form but serve a similar purpose: engaging large donors and offering them influence on policy direction. Fundraising has become a priority for the Conservative leadership amid competitive pressure from rival parties. The party has reported raising £8.4 million in donations so far this year, outstripping its main rivals. Party documentation shows that within donor tiers there already exist privileged access levels such as the “Leader’s Group”, which gives top donors access to the leader and senior figures. The revived board is expected to sit on top of those existi...

Subscribe to The Mace

Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.

To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.