Sunak under growing pressure from Tories to return £10m Hester donation

West Midlands mayor and Scottish Conservatives openly question PM’s position that donor’s apology to Diane Abbott has closed the matter

Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from senior Conservatives to return the £10m given to the party by Frank Hester amid increasing disquiet over Hester’s comments about Diane Abbott, which have been widely condemned as racist and misogynistic.

As a series of Tories broke ranks to call for the donation to be returned, Sunak said in the House of Commons that Hester had apologised for his remarks “and that remorse should be accepted”.