Billionaire Tory donor condemns Suella Braverman’s ‘inappropriate’ Pride flag comments

In brief...

• Businessman and Tory donor Sir Michael Spencer criticised Suella Braverman's comments on the Pride flag and called the Conservative Party's recent election campaign "woefully incompetent."
• Spencer believes the party should not rush into a leadership contest and opposes bringing Nigel Farage into the Conservative Party.
• He supports Labour's planning reforms but remains sceptical of their fundamental philosophy, viewing them as a "high-tax, high-spend party."

Businessman and Tory donor Lord Michael Spencer, has criticised former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s recent comments about the Pride flag, calling her comments disturbing.

He has also referred to the Conservative Party’s election campaign in 2024 as “woefully incompetent”.

In a recent speech at the National Conservatism conference in the US, Braverman referred to the Progress Pride flag flying on government buildings as “monstrous”, and claimed children in the UK were being “mutilated” in hospitals and schools.

The Progress Pride flag is an updated flag to include a chevron which represents people living with HIV and AIDS, and those who have died, along with marginalised people of colour and trans and non-binary people.

No one under the age of 18 is legally allowed to receive gender-affirming care in the UK.

“I think isolating single issues like that is exaggerated,” Lord Spencer told Lewis Goodall, in an interview for The News Agents.

“I find that very inappropriate, frankly.”

When quizzed by Lewis on whether her rhetoric disturbs him, Lord Spencer replied simply: “I would say so, yes.”

Braverman was one of 121 Tory MPs to hold onto her seat in this month’s general election, after a campaign by the Conservatives Lord Spencer says was “chaotic and incompetent”.

“The campaign, sadly, was woeful from beginning to end,” he says.

“Woeful, from the planning to be outside Downing Street and flooded with rain, allowing those people to interfere with his broadcast, the announcement not long afterwards that they were proposing to reintroduce National Service, which was an extraordinary announcement.

“Then it was followed up with various other disasters, including the early departure from D Day, which was, I think, the final coup de gras.”

In May 2024, it was reported that Lord Spencer had donated £250,000 to the Conservatives election campaign. When speaking with Lewis, he would not confirm or deny whether he would continue to give money to the party.

He insists, however, that he does not believe this summer’s election “drubbing” is “the end” of the Conservative Party.

He says the party would now be “ill-advised” to rush into a rapid leadership contest, saying the party would be “best served by spending a bit of time to choose our next leader,” but would not comment on who he would tip to lead the party when Rishi Sunak steps down.

“We need to spend some more time on this leadership campaign as well, at the very least up until the party conference at the end of September.”

But whatever the future of the Conservative Party might look like, Lord Spencer does not see Nigel Farage as a part of it.

“He’s obviously been a very effective politician in this last election,” Lord Spencer tells Lewis.

“Mishandled, I think, by the Conservative Party in the past, in not understanding why he had achieved the appeal that he has done. But I don't think we should take Farage into the party.

“He’s a populist, and I suspect his terms for joining the party would be very demanding. But most importantly, I don't believe Farage represents what a good, well composed Conservative Party should look like.”

Lord Spencer also urged the Conservative Party to support the Labour Party’s planning reforms in the UK, saying what Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves set out this week has been needed “for a long period of time”.

“There's a certain contradiction when you are allowing 750,000 immigrants to come into this country, and yet not allowing the planning to provide the housing to accommodate them,” he says.

“I think this is something that Conservatives, broadly speaking, should support Labour on.”However, he also says he struggles to believe Labour has changed from its roots, saying it has always been a “high-tax, high-spend" party.

"I actually don't believe that they have changed their fundamental philosophy at all,” he adds.

“I think they shifted their rhetoric to get elected.”

Listen to the full interview in today's episode of The News Agents.