Conservative Party rakes in £3.6 million from hedge fund tycoons and finance firms

A hedge fund tycoon who hosted Kwasi Kwarteng for a champagne party hours after last month’s mini-Budget is among scores of wealthy financiers and City firms who have donated more than £3.6m to the Conservative Party this year, analysis by The Independent reveals.

Investment banks, asset management firms, hedge funds, insurers and other financial services companies and high net-worth individuals linked to them have made just over 100 deposits to the Tories since 1 January.

Mr Kwarteng’s mini-Budget caused chaos in the markets and prompted the Bank of England to intervene with an emergency £65bn bond-buying scheme to prop up pension funds at risk of collapse, as the cost of government borrowing rose to levels similar to those seen in Greece and Italy.

Discontent about the state of the markets sparked a fresh rebellion among Tory back benchers, many of whom were already uneasy about Mr Kwarteng and then prime minister Liz Truss’s tax-cutting agenda  – which predominately benefited the better-off – amid the cost of living crisis.

Despite warnings from Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor and…