It is believed that Cruddas has donated over £3.5 million to the
Conservative Party.
The Times noted that most party treasurers drastically reduce their contributions after being elevated to the Lords. Only one continued to donate as before, insisting that he did not want his generosity to appear like a brazen purchase of a title. In March 2025,
The Guardian included Cruddas among peers who had donated more than £1 million before entering the House of Lords, and reported that donations from large pre-appointment donors tended to decline after they secured their seats when averaged over time.
Cash-for-Access scandal Cruddas was appointed Conservative Party co-treasurer in June 2011 alongside
Lord Fink, effectively the party's chief fund raiser, in succession to billionaire property tycoon
David Rowland. In 2012, he became embroiled in the "UK Cash-for-Access" scandal which ultimately forced his resignation as co-treasurer.
The Sunday Times reported that Cruddas, in exchange for sizable donations, offered exclusive dinners with prime minister
David Cameron and the chancellor
George Osborne. The reporters Jonathan Calvert and Heidi Blake had secretly filmed Cruddas stating that for a donation of £250,000 he would arrange "premier league" access to the government leaders, such as an invitation to dinners at Cameron's apartment in
Downing Street, where the donor would "pick up a lot of information", pose "practically any question" or advance their interests if "unhappy about something". The undercover journalists were introduced to Cruddas by
Sarah Southern, a lobbyist who is David Cameron's former aide, and secured themselves a two-hour private meeting. The reporters posed as overseas financiers and claimed that their clients intended to buy distressed government assets and wanted to make political connections. Cruddas publicly apologised, stating that his claims were mere "bluster" and he lacked the authority to sway policy or guarantee outcomes for financial backers. In July 2012, it became known that Cruddas was suing
The Sunday Times for libel over its coverage of him. Initially, he appeared triumphant, securing £180,000 in damages on 31 July. However, in March 2015, all three judges of an appeal court ruled that the central allegation of the ''Sunday Times's'' story – that Cruddas had corruptly offered to potential donors access to leading members of the government – was supported by the evidence. While other related claims in the article remained unsubstantiated and defamatory, the judges cut the libel award from £180,000 to £50,000.
Brexit Cruddas, a prominent
Eurosceptic, was one of the most generous supporters of
Brexit. As co-treasurer of the
Vote Leave campaign, he was the first high-profile figure to announce a major donation, contributing £1 million in November 2015. Despite Cruddas's role in the pro-Brexit campaign, CMC Markets highlighted potential risks associated with Brexit in its prospectus. The document raised concerns about the financial and operational impacts of the UK leaving the EU. In total, Cruddas donated £1.5 million to the official Vote Leave campaign.
2013 – present In June 2019,
Sky News reported that Cruddas donated £50,000 to Boris Johnson's Conservative leadership campaign. During the
2022 Conservative leadership election, following the resignation of Boris Johnson, Cruddas led a campaign to reinstate Johnson as a candidate. He stated the
governmental mass resignations leading to Johnson's resignation had been "anti-democratic to the party and to the electorate". He went on to found and preside over the
Conservative Democratic Organisation, a pro-Johnson faction established in December 2022, purporting to seek greater representation of the party's membership in its governance. In August 2022, Cruddas threatened to cut off funding to the Conservatives unless they changed their constitution and reduced the power of the
1922 Committee of backbench MPs. In June 2024, Baron Peter Cruddas, a Conservative peer and former party donor, shared several social media posts supporting
Nigel Farage and the
Reform UK party. An analysis by
The Guardian revealed that out of his most recent 100 retweets on
Twitter, 48 were in favour of Reform UK and Farage, while 12 criticised the Conservative Party and its government. Among his retweets was a post by
Arron Banks claiming that "those who continue to support the Conservative Party are not patriots."
Peerage In 2020, under prime minister Boris Johnson, Cruddas was nominated for a
peerage, despite the
House of Lords Appointments Commission explicitly stating it could not support his nomination. Johnson dismissed this advice, thus becoming the first prime minister ever to defy the commission's guidance. In a public letter to
Lord Bew, the commission's chair, Johnson sought to justify his decision by referencing Cruddas's "outstanding contributions" to charity and his "long track of committed political service."
The Guardian reported that Cruddas had donated more than £3.5 million to the Conservative Party since 2010, including a £500,000 donation delivered three days after he took his seat in the upper chamber in February 2021. The historian
Lord Lexden described the nomination of Peter Cruddas as "the worst honours scandal in a century". On 27 January 2021, Cruddas assumed the title
Baron Cruddas, of Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney. He made his
maiden speech on 12 March 2021 in response to the
budget statement. By 2023, The
New Statesman named Cruddas the 38th most powerful right-wing British political figure for his financial ability to shape the Conservative Party's future. == Charity ==