One of the charities that appeared on the front page of the Daily Telegraph in a list of small business owners who support the Conservative Party in the lead-up to the election has now given its chair, who was a Tory candidate, its full support.
Diverse Cymru was one of four charities among more than 5,000 signatories to an open letter in the Daily Telegraph.
Its chair, Keith Dewhurst, was the Tory candidate for the Cynon Valley seat; he was not elected, coming 4th behind Labour, Plaid Cyrmu and Ukip.
At the time the charity said that its inclusion was an error and it was investigating.
The charity has issued an updated statement: “We would like to assure all of our colleagues, friends and supporters that we took advice from the Charity Commission who have commended the swift and effective manner in which we dealt with the matter.
“Diverse Cymru's board of trustees accepted this was clearly a mistake and gave Mr Dewhurst their full support at a recent board meeting.”
According to the charity, the Conservative Party has not said how Diverse Cymru came to be included on the list. The Telegraph has removed it from the online version of the article.
Also included on the list were representatives from the East Doncaster Development Trust, Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust and the Latvian Welfare Trust. The Charity Commission said it has contacted all four charities.
Rebecca Long, director of the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust, said that the charity had been included “without our knowledge or consent”.
She said: “No one at the charity has been authorised to sign such a document on our behalf, nor would they ever be. Our inclusion on this list is in error and we expect it to be corrected.”
A Commission spokesman said: "The Commission made clear that signing a letter in support of a political party is not a legitimate activity for a charity. Following our engagement with the charity, the Commission received a response from Diverse Cymru and was satisfied with the action that the charity took and will be taking no further action.
"The Commission has committed to report publicly on campaigning related activity during the election period and will do so in the coming weeks.”
