MICHAEL Gove is facing calls to hand back more than £100,000 of donations he has received from a property developer after he was made Housing Secretary.
The top Tory received two donations of £50,000 from German property developer named Zak Gertler on August 6.
In 2009, the Sunday Times reported that Gertler was worth around £150 million, having moved into developing property in London in the 1990s.
According to the Guardian, Gertler also donated £10,000 to Gove’s Tory Party leadership bid in 2016, and a further £10,000 in 2019.
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A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said that all of the donations and been properly handled and “declared publicly”.
However, Green MP Caroline Lucas called on Gove to hand back all £120,000, saying: “Just declaring a blatant conflict of interest doesn't remove it.”
LibDem leader Ed Davey (above) also called on the new Housing Secretary to return the money.
He said: “Conservative planning reforms are already handing more powers to developers, and now it seems the new housing secretary is accepting donations from them too. To avoid any conflict of interest, Michael Gove must return this money.”
Gove is tipped to hit pause on the plans to which Davey referred, a shake-up of the planning process which had been championed by his predecessor, Robert Jenrick.
Jenrick’s proposals had previously come under fire, with opponents saying they would tip the balance of power in favour of rich developers and away from locals.
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It would do this by asking planning bodies to draw up areas for growth, which would then be in place for years and in which outline approval would be automatic.
Senior Conservatives including former prime minister Theresa May have criticised the proposals, which are designed to boost building to help hit the target of 300,000 new homes a year in England.
MPs had partly blamed the plans widely seen as watering down local oversight of planning proposals for the defeat in the Chesham and Amersham by-election to the Liberal Democrats in June.
Shadow communities secretary Steve Reed said the “developers charter”, as it is dubbed by Labour, should be “scrapped altogether”.
“These reforms will pay back developers by selling out communities and gagging residents from having a say over development in their area,” he said.
The former chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster reportedly wants to review the plans before taking them forward. It is understood he will consult with colleagues as well as industry figures during the rethink.
A spokesperson from the MHCLG said: “All donations made to the secretary of state have been declared publicly and the proper process followed.
“The department has robust processes in place to ensure any potential conflicts of interest are managed appropriately. Ministers continue to be bound at all times by their obligations under the ministerial code.”
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