UK Conservative Party Accepts £350,000 Donation From E-Cigarette Company

While tightening controls on e-cigarettes, the UK Conservative Party has also accepted a £350,000 donation from an e-cigarette company.

According to a Sept. 7 report from inews.co.uk, despite the government’s pledge to crack down on e-cigarettes marketed to children, the Conservative Party still accepted a £350,000 donation from Supreme PLC, a company that sells e-cigarette products in flavors such as watermelon bubblegum and cotton candy ice. 

The latest records released by the Electoral Commission show that Rishi Sunak’s party received the funds from Supreme 8 Ltd in May. 

Supreme 8 is owned by Sandeep Singh Chadha, the CEO of parent company Supreme PLC, a Manchester-based distributor and manufacturer of e-cigarettes, lighting products, and batteries. 

In May this year—the same month Supreme 8 donated to the Conservatives—the Prime Minister pledged to curb e-cigarette marketing aimed at people under 18.

Mr. Sunak said he was “deeply concerned” by reports of rising e-cigarette use among children and promised that the government would regulate the e-cigarette market and promotions, adding: “Companies should not deliberately target children. That is illegal. 

If we need to take further action to ensure that, then we will do so.” 

In a post on X, the Prime Minister said: “My two daughters are aged 10 and 12, and I do not want the marketing, promotion and sale of e-cigarettes to be conducted in a way that makes them appealing to them. That is why I am launching a new crackdown today to protect children.” 

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We are sleepwalking into a new generation of children addicted to nicotine. Yet the Conservatives are lining their own pockets before protecting children’s health. 

“How can Rishi Sunak pretend otherwise when he is taking money from a company that sells watermelon bubblegum and cotton candy ice-flavored e-cigarettes? 

“Labour will come down like a ton of bricks on those peddling e-cigarettes to children. We will ban the marketing and branding of e-cigarettes to children and give every child the healthiest possible start in life.”

We contacted the Conservative Party and Supreme PLC for comment. 

At the annual British Medical Association conference in July, delegates criticized e-cigarette products aimed at children. Dr. Penelope Toff, chair of the BMA’s public health medicine committee, told the conference: “The most concerning area is that these products, with their bright colors and packaging, stylized design, candy-shop-style flavors, and relatively cheap prices, are clearly intended to appeal to children and young people.” 

In a May article in The Times, Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty wrote that marketing e-cigarette products to children was “completely unacceptable,” adding: “Companies are marketing products specifically targeted at children, using colors, flavors and cheap disposable options, whatever they may claim.”