Rowland: too busy to be a Tory treasurer
This week, David Rowland discovered that his business interests are growing too fast to give him time to be a Tory treasurer. But according to The Spectator, Lord Ashcroft and others close to the Tory leader and PM David Cameron have warned that with Rowland as a treasurer some potential Tory donors would be unwilling to donate money to the party. The UK media wonders what this says about PM David Cameron’s common sense and about whom he listens to.
Earlier this year when Rowland was nominated as the coming treasurer (because Michael Spencer had to resign: sold shares in his Icap only a few weeks before a profit warning, causing concern but apparently nothing more, so far) Moneyweek published a profile on Rowland, mentioning his taste for opaque deals: a case in point was his buying of Kaupthing Luxembourg.
Daily Mail has been extremely diligent in bringing out old and new example of Rowland’s shady affairs, even publishing a photo of the tycoon with a glamours lady on his lap. All this was summarised this week as Rowland resigned, or rather declared he wouldn’t take up his post in autumn, as planned. Or as he stated: “I was honoured to be asked to become treasurer. Unfortunately, my developing business interests mean I will not have the time to give that role the focus and attention it deserves.”
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