Five stories that helped topple the Tories

Five stories that helped topple the Tories

Dear reader,

Last week, after 14 years of chaos, lies, corruption and, perhaps most damningly of all, incompetence, the United Kingdom sent the Conservative party on its way and elected Keir Starmer’s Labour in a landslide.

We’d like to think we played an important role in exposing some of the worst excesses of the Conservative government since 2010. The Guardian was only able to do this because our only investors are our readers. They know that fearless, investigative journalism shapes a fairer world. We have no vested interests and we won’t shy away from the truth – whoever is in power.

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Your contribution will fund groundbreaking investigations and breaking news and help us to bring you more stories like these:

1. The Windrush scandal
Amelia Gentleman’s reporting exposed the nightmare faced by a generation of men and women who had their lives wrecked by the “hostile environment” policies of Theresa May’s Home Office. The investigation revealed that many Caribbean-born UK residents’ lives were destroyed after they were incorrectly classified as illegal immigrants. The story led to the resignation of a home secretary and a public apology from May – by then the prime minister.

2. Dominic Cummings’s Barnard Castle trip
During the pandemic we revealed that Boris Johnson’s top adviser, Dominic Cummings, travelled to Durham at the height of lockdown despite having symptoms of coronavirus. The hypocrisy infuriated the nation and provided the foundations for greater fury to come with Partygate – a story we also played a prominent role in exposing.

3. Michelle Mone, PPE Medpro and crony capitalism
Another defining scandal of the UK Covid years was the amount of money spent – and wasted – on personal protective equipment (PPE) that often wasn’t fit for purpose. Many of the suppliers were awarded contracts via a so-called VIP lane that was later ruled unlawful – leading to the purchase of PPE that was often more expensive or unsuitable. David Conn spent years reporting evidence that Conservative peer Michelle Mone appeared to be involved with the firm PPE Medpro. Late in 2023, after years of denials and legal threats, Mone finally admitted to having been involved, and that she had lied when she denied it.

4. Frank Hester
In March, we published a shocking exposé that revealed that the Conservatives’ biggest donor – businessman Frank Hester – had said that looking at (veteran Labour MP) Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women”, among other grim comments.

5. Betgate
Pippa Crerar’s astonishing story that one of former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s closest aides, Craig Williams, had put a £100 bet on the date of the election became the defining story of a dismal election campaign for the Tories – the final nail in the electoral coffin.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Every day for the last 14 years our reporters have fought to expose the truth and to try to make the world a fairer place.

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Thank you

Will Dean
Supporters editor
The Guardian