{{Short description|British businessman (born 1966)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Use British English|date= September 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Frank Hester | honorific_suffix = OBE | image = | caption = | birth_name = Francis Xavier James Hester | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1966}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | citizenship = | education = | occupation = Businessman | known for = | title = Founder The Phoenix Partnership | term = | predecessor = | successor = | boards = | spouse = {{marriage|Rosemary Daly|end=divorce}} | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | website = }} '''Francis Xavier James Hester''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE}} (born April 1966) is a British businessman, and the founder of software company The Phoenix Partnership. He is the largest ever donor to the Conservative Party reportedly having given over £20 million since the beginning of 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1m0mnrnlrno|title=Tories accepted £5m from Frank Hester days before election called|date=12 September 2024|website=BBC News}}</ref>
==Biography== Hester is of Irish descent and grew up in Armley, a district in the west of Leeds, West Yorkshire.<ref name="Yorkshire Post">{{cite news |last1=Burn |first1=Chris |title=Leading Leeds businessman Frank Hester donates £5m to the Conservative Party - this is why |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/leading-leeds-businessman-frank-hester-donates-ps5m-to-the-conservative-party-this-is-why-4282131 |access-date=20 September 2023 |work=Yorkshire Post |date=6 September 2023}}</ref> Both of his parents immigrated from Ireland to the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/uk/frank-hester-the-major-tory-donor-embroiled-in-racism-row-3FOODAGPQNNBXPQUSAVC4DP42U/|title=Frank Hester: The major Tory donor embroiled in racism row|date=13 March 2024|work=The Irish News}}</ref>
Hester is the sole owner of The Phoenix Partnership, which he founded in 1997 and specialises in providing healthcare technology.<ref name="Yorkshire Post"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68539981|title=Frank Hester: Tory donor accused of racist Diane Abbott remarks|date=11 March 2024|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Guardian 14 March 2024">{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Peter |title=Tories urged to return further £5m donation made by Frank Hester |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/14/tories-urged-return-further-5m-donation-frank-hester |access-date=14 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=14 March 2024}}</ref> In the 2015 New Year Honours, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to healthcare.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=31 December 2014 |issue=61092 |page=N13 |supp=1}}</ref><ref name="Gov.uk">{{cite news |title=New Year's Honours for health and social care |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-years-honours-for-health-and-social-care |access-date=20 September 2023 |work=Gov.uk |issue=31 December 2014}}</ref> ''The Guardian'' reported that contracts worth £135m since April 2020 were awarded to his company by the Department of Health and Social Care, the majority for work under the GP IT Futures framework.<ref name=":2">{{cite web | last1 = Mason | first1 = Rowena | title = One of Tories' biggest ever donors profited from £135m of NHS contracts | work = The Guardian | url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/20/one-of-tories-biggest-ever-donors-frank-hester-profited-from-135m-of-nhs-contracts | date = 20 September 2023 | archiveurl = https://archive.today/20230920173521/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/20/one-of-tories-biggest-ever-donors-frank-hester-profited-from-135m-of-nhs-contracts| archivedate = 20 September 2023 }}</ref>
===Political affiliations=== In September 2023, Hester donated £5 million to the UK's Conservative Party, making him the joint biggest donor in two decades.<ref name="Sky News">{{cite news |last1=Kleinman |first1=Mark |title=Healthcare tycoon Hester swells Tory election warchest with £5m donation |url=https://news.sky.com/story/healthcare-tycoon-hester-swells-tory-election-warchest-with-5m-donation-12955621 |access-date=20 September 2023 |work=Sky News |date=5 September 2023}}</ref><ref name="The Telegraph 2023 e761">{{cite web | title=Why I'm giving £5 million to the Conservatives | website=The Telegraph | date=5 September 2023 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/09/05/why-im-giving-5-million-to-the-conservatives/ | access-date=20 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="The Telegraph 2023 p735">{{cite web | title=Tories boosted by £5m donation from healthcare entrepreneur | website=The Telegraph | date=5 September 2023 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/09/05/conservative-party-joint-biggest-ever-donation-from-phoenix/ | access-date=20 March 2024}}</ref> These donations were made by his company TPP, but TPP said Hester personally repaid it, and that the company is apolitical.<ref name=":2" /> He made a second £5 million donation to the Conservatives through his company in November 2023, making Hester the largest ever donor to the party.<ref name="Seddon 2024 r575">{{cite web | last=Seddon | first=Sam Francis & Paul | title=Frank Hester: Sunak under pressure over new funds from racism accused donor | website=BBC News | date=14 March 2024 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68567484 | access-date=20 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="Guardian profile" /><ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Mason |first1=Rowena |title=One of Tories' biggest ever donors profited from £135m of NHS contracts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/20/one-of-tories-biggest-ever-donors-frank-hester-profited-from-135m-of-nhs-contracts |access-date=20 September 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=20 September 2023}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Riley-Smith |first=Ben |date=29 February 2024 |title=Health tech boss becomes biggest ever Tory donor with second £5m gift |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/02/29/biggest-tory-donor-frank-hester-5m/ |access-date=6 March 2024 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> It has been reported that he had donated a further £5 million in 2024, which the party neither confirmed nor denied,<ref name="Walker Mason 2024 s742">{{cite web | last1=Walker | first1=Peter | last2=Mason | first2=Rowena | title=Tories urged to return 'further £5m donation made by Frank Hester' | website=the Guardian | date=14 March 2024 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/14/tories-urged-return-further-5m-donation-frank-hester | access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="Neilan 2024 j001">{{cite web | last=Neilan | first=Catherine | title=Exclusive: Tory party "sitting on" further £5m from disgraced donor Frank Hester | website=Tortoise | date=14 March 2024 | url=https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2024/03/14/exclusive-tory-party-accepts-a-further-5m-from-controversial-frank-hester/ | access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref> but was later verified after Electoral Commission records were published.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Catt |first1=Helen |last2=McKieren |first2=Jennifer |title=Tories took £5m from Hester days before election called |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1m0mnrnlrno |publisher=BBC |date=12 September 2024}}</ref> Altogether in 2023 and 2024, Hester donated more than £20m to the Conservative Party.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Catt |first1=Helen |last2=McKiernan |first2=Jennifer |title=Tories accepted £5m from Frank Hester days before election called |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1m0mnrnlrno |access-date=26 February 2026 |work=BBC News |date=12 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kollewe |first1=Julia |title=Software firm belonging to Tory donor Frank Hester pays out £50m dividend |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/08/tpp-group-software-firm-tory-donor-frank-hester-pays-out-dividend |access-date=26 February 2026 |work=The Guardian |date=8 January 2026}}</ref>
He said he previously voted for the Green Party, but became a Conservative Party donor after coming to the view that prime minister Rishi Sunak "understands and values the NHS and wants to tackle some of its most pressing challenges".<ref name="Yorkshire Post" /> Sunak and Hester met on a number of occasions in 2023, and in November 2023 Hester provided the use of a helicopter to prime minister Rishi Sunak for a political visit, valued at £15,000 in parliamentary records.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 March 2024 |title=Tory donor's alleged Diane Abbott remarks were racist, says Kemi Badenoch |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68548389 |access-date=12 March 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="Mason Walker Dyer 2024 g352">{{cite web | last1=Mason | first1=Rowena | last2=Walker | first2=Peter | last3=Dyer | first3=Henry | title=Sunak under pressure to say how many times he has met Tory donor Frank Hester | website=The Guardian | date=16 March 2024 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/16/sunak-under-pressure-to-say-how-many-times-he-has-met-tory-donor-frank-hester | access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref>
===Comments about Diane Abbott and others=== In March 2024, ''The Guardian'' reported that Hester had made comments in a 2019 company meeting about the MP Diane Abbott. The paper reported that he said seeing Diane Abbott on television made him “want to hate all black women" and that she “should be shot", as well as making comments about a female executive from another organisation, saying "it would be much better if she died", and about his own Asian female employees, saying “we take the piss out of the fact that all our Chinese girls sit together in Asian corner”.<ref name="Guardian_Abbott"/> BBC News also reported what ''The Guardian'' said, adding that they were unable to verify that the alleged remarks had been made.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Mason |first1=Chris |last2=Whannel |first2=Kate |date=13 March 2024 |title=Tory donor's alleged comments about Diane Abbott were racist, says Downing Street |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68548389 |work=BBC News}}</ref> ''The Guardian'' also reported that Hester's lawyers had said "that Hester’s comments had been distorted and taken out of context, and were not a true or accurate characterisation of the company or Hester".<ref name="Guardian_Abbott" /> A statement from The Phoenix Partnership said Hester "accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbott in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin". The statement said Hester abhorred racism.<ref name="Guardian_Abbott">{{cite news |title=Biggest Tory donor said looking at Diane Abbott makes you 'want to hate all black women' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/11/biggest-tory-donor-looking-diane-abbott-hate-all-black-women |access-date=11 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=11 March 2024|quote=The Guardian has learned of a 2019 meeting at TPP’s headquarters in which Hester spoke about an executive from another organisation, saying: "She's shit. She's the shittest person. Honestly I try not to be sexist but when I meet somebody like [the executive], I just … It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV and you're just like, I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot. [The executive] and Diane Abbott need to be shot. She's stupid … If we can get [the executive] being unprofessional we can get her sacked. It's not as good as her dying. It would be much better if she died. She's consuming resource. She's eating food that other people could eat. You know?"}}</ref>
The prime minister's official spokesperson initially condemned the remarks but did not call them racist.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burrell |first=Nicholas Cecil, Michael Howie, Jitendra Joshi, Miriam |date=12 March 2024 |title=PM finally admits Tory donor rant against Abbott is 'racist and wrong' |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/frank-hester-tory-donor-diane-abbott-comments-black-women-labour-b1144631.html |access-date=14 March 2024 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last1=Mason |first1=Rowena |last2=Adu |first2=Aletha |date=12 March 2024 |title=Tory donor's comments about Diane Abbott 'racist and wrong', No 10 says |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/12/conservative-donor-frank-hester-comments-diane-abbott-racist-wrong-no-10-rishi-sunak |access-date=14 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said the comments about Abbott "were clearly inappropriate" but people should "move on" and such comments were not "race-based" and "had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin". Energy Minister Graham Stuart said while the remarks were "ridiculous" he would "hesitate" to call them racist.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=12 March 2024 |title=Minister defends donor over Diane Abbott remarks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68542621 |access-date=14 March 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Many opposition politicians criticised Hester's reported comments and called such comments racist.<ref name=":1" /> The Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and then the prime minister Rishi Sunak separately described Hester's alleged comments as "racist" although Sunak declined to return Hester's political donations.<ref>{{cite news |title=Frank Hester: Rishi Sunak say he won't return money from donor accused of racism |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68554476 |access-date=14 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=14 March 2024}}</ref> Abbott, who described the comments as "frightening", filed a complaint about the reported remarks to the Metropolitan Police's Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team. Hester said he had tried twice to apologise to her, by phone, once the comments were made public.<ref>{{cite news |title=Diane Abbott reports Tory donor Frank Hester to police 'over racist comments that she 'should be shot' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/diane-abbott-frank-hester-met-police-tory-b2511427.html |work=independent.co.uk |date=12 March 2024}}</ref>
On 14 March, as a result of Hester's alleged remarks, health workers' trade union, the British Medical Association (BMA), called upon Hester to resign from his company TPP. The BMA's general practitioners' committee (GPC) voted in favour of an emergency motion that he had "contravened NHS England's fit and proper person test framework introduced in response to the 2019 Kark review recommendations." The co-chairs of the GPC general practitioners' committee said that the passing of the motion, "makes it clear how appalled GPs are". Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison, which represents half a million NHS workers, echoed the views of the doctors' body.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Boffey |first1=Daniel |last2=Weaver |first2=Matthew |last3=Mason |first3=Rowena |last4=Dyer |first4=Henry |date=15 March 2024 |title=Health workers' unions call for Frank Hester to lose NHS contracts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/15/frank-hester-should-not-run-nhs-contracts-says-union-representing-gps |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==Personal life== Hester was previously married to Dr Rosemary Daly, a former<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gmc-uk.org/doctors/3358562|title=Rosemary Daly|work=General Medical Council}}</ref> general practitioner; she was described as "now ex-wife" by ''The Guardian'' in 2024.<ref name="ISG">{{cite news |title=TPP CEO Frank Hester officially marks the key construction milestone at the company's new Horsforth HQ |url=https://news.cision.com/isg/i/tpp-ceo-frank-hester-and-wife-dr-rosemary-daly-officially-mark-the-key-construction-milestone-at-the,c1569841 |access-date=12 March 2024 |work=ISG |date=22 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Guardian profile">{{cite news |last1=Mason |first1=Rowena |title=Frank Hester: computer programmer who made fortune from public sector contracts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/11/frank-hester-computer-programmer-who-made-fortune-from-public-sector-contracts |access-date=12 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=11 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="Guardian 2013">{{cite news |title=Five minutes with ... the founder of a healthcare technology company |url=https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2013/aug/02/founder-healthcare-technology-company |access-date=20 September 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=2 August 2013}}</ref>
As of 2024, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated his net worth at £371 million.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-13 |title=The Sunday Times Rich List 2024 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}</ref>
In February 2026, Frank Hester was listed on the Sunday Times Tax list with an estimated £35.5 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Watts |first=Robert |date=2026-01-31 |title=Who are the UK’s biggest taxpayers? The 2026 Tax List revealed |url=https://www.thetimes.com/money/tax/article/uk-100-biggest-taxpayers-2026-tax-list-nqsjk2bvn |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hester, Frank}} Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:English company founders Category:English people of Irish descent Category:Conservative Party (UK) donors Category:People from Armley Category:Businesspeople from Leeds Category:English chief executives Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire