By forming the advisory board, the Conservative Party was creating a space where those donors who had contributed vast sums of cash would frequently and formally be brought into contact with ministers and advisers".
[3] The Times wrote that "Perhaps the greatest benefit conferred upon [members of the Advisory Board] is the apparent licence it gave them to approach individuals at the top of government in a personal capacity".
[3] Members of the advisory board have included businessman Mohamed Amersi, Philip Bouverat, who attended meetings of the group on behalf of JCB chairman Anthony Bamford, Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of the former Russian deputy finance minister Vladimir Chernukhin, internet entrepreneur Peter Dubens, venture capitalist Edward Eisler, property developer Tony Gallagher, theatre producer John Gore, internet entrepreneur Lawrence Jones, energy investor Ravi Kailas, Iranian businessman Javad Marandi, property investor Leo Noé, businessman Jamie Reuben, financier Michael Spencer and recruitment company founder Robert Walters.
[3] Another of the advisory board members emailed Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with an "idea about testing supplies" during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
[3] The Downing Street Chief of Staff Sir Edward Lister used his private BT Internet email address to communicate with one member of the advisory board.
[3] In an investigation into the Advisory Group, Gabriel Pogrund and Henry Zeffman wrote in The Times that "On that day, with Britain deep in the pandemic, Lister, Johnson's chief strategic adviser, spent an hour on Microsoft Teams, answering questions and addressing the concerns of donors.
[3] BBC News stated that "There is nothing new about political parties having tiers of membership, with access to events and leading figures depending on how much donors are prepared to pay.
[4] The chair of the Labour Party, Anneliese Dodds, described Johnson as having " ... sanctioned the creation of a secret club of super-rich donors that gets privileged access to ministers, and he has chosen time and again to turn a blind eye to unacceptable conflicts of interest.
Dodds said that Johnson " ... must explain what donors with links to Putin's Russia got in return for their six-figure annual membership fee and clarify whether these meetings had any impact on government policy at the height of the pandemic".