The Conservative Party accepted a donation from climate science denier Laurence Fox’s media outlet less than two weeks before the general election, DeSmog can reveal.
The £5,000 donation was made to Bassetlaw Conservatives, contributing towards the election campaign of Brendan Clarke-Smith.
The donation was given by Reclaim the Media Limited, a media venture fronted by Fox and linked to the radical right-wing party Reclaim, which he leads. The money was donated on 11 June and accepted by the Conservatives on 25 June – nine days before the general election.
Former actor Fox regularly attacks climate science and action, claiming on social media in June that climate change is “definitely a conspiracy theory”.
He has also called climate change “a f*cking hoax”, “a massive bullsh*t lie”, and “made up”.
Reclaim itself denies the climate emergency and says that it would scrap the UK’s legally binding 2050 net zero emissions target. Fox often attacks climate action on Reclaim the Media, and has published YouTube videos on supposed climate “doomsday cultists” and “climate change lies”.
Authors working for the world’s foremost climate science body, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have said that “it is a statement of fact, we cannot be any more certain; it is unequivocal and indisputable that humans are warming the planet”.
The IPCC has stated that we are in the midst of “widespread and rapid [changes] … unprecedented over many centuries, to many thousands of years”.
Fox publicly endorsed Nigel Farage’s Reform UK during the general election campaign, saying that “he is our messenger.”
While serving as the Conservative MP for Bassetlaw in August 2021, Clarke-Smith said that climate change needed to be put “in perspective”. Speaking on GB News, he said that the UK produced a fraction of the emissions of countries such as Russia and China – but said that he was not a climate change denier. Clarke-Smith has also accused the Labour Party of pursuing “net zero extremism”.
Reclaim the Media reportedly donated to three other Conservative candidates – Andrea Jenkyns, Marco Longhi, and Karl McCartney – though none of these donations have yet been registered with the Electoral Commission. Jenkyns, who lost her seat in July, is a director of Net Zero Watch, a climate science denial campaign group.
Reclaim the Media Limited is owned by financier Jeremy Hosking, who also bankrolls Fox’s political party, having donated £450,000 last year alone.
Hosking’s investment firm, Hosking Partners, had more than $134 million (around £108 million) invested in the energy sector at the close of 2021, two thirds of which was in the oil industry, along with millions in coal and gas.
Hosking, who has donated to the Conservative Party and Reform in the past, previously told DeSmog: “I do not have millions in fossil fuels; it is the clients of Hosking Partners who are the beneficiaries of these investments.”
From the 2019 general election to the start of the 2024 election campaign, the Tories accepted at least £8.4 million from fossil fuel interests, climate science deniers, and highly polluting industries. The party accepted a further £225,000 in donations from firms and individuals with financial interests in oil and gas during the first week of the general election campaign, representing 40 percent of its income.
Fox hosts a regular show on Reclaim the Media with Calvin Robinson, both of whom were fired by the right-wing broadcaster GB News in October 2023. During an appearance on GB News, Fox made misogynistic comments about journalist Ava Evans, asking what “self-respecting man” would “climb into bed” with her. Robinson was sacked after voicing his support for Fox and fellow presenter Dan Wootton, who was also axed following the incident.
Fox has said that he was “totally radicalised” by YouTube to take up a crusade against supposed “woke culture and political correctness”. In July 2024 he led a rally alongside far-right figure Tommy Robinson in London, who he interviewed on Reclaim the Media in May.
Fox has promoted a range of radical, conspiratorial views in recent months, suggesting that the COVID vaccine is a “death jab”, and saying that “we need to permanently remove Islam from Great Britain”.
Reclaim’s donation ultimately didn’t help Clarke-Smith to retain his seat, which he first gained in 2019 and lost by 5,500 votes to Labour’s Jo White this July.
Donations are not automatically accepted by political parties and the Conservative Party says it “reserves the right to not accept a donation”.
The Conservative Party, Bassetlaw Conservatives, Reclaim, and Jeremy Hosking have been approached for comment.
