Lord Saatchi charged Tories '£1.5m' for advertising and marketing work

by Joe Lepper, Brand Republic 01-Aug-05, 15:50

LONDON - The hard-up Conservative Party was charged a reported £1.5m for services carried out by Lord Maurice Saatchi's advertising and marketing firms, including work on its disastrous 2005 General Election campaign and while he was party chairman, it has emerged.

Latest figures for 2004 have revealed that Intermediate Sales Company and M&C Saatchi charged the Conservatives £339,000 and £207,000 respectively.

According to The Times, a further £1m was charged during 2005 before the General Election.

A Conservative Party spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that the figures for 2004 are accurate but we can not comment on any figures for 2005 as we have not finished the accounts for this year."

Lord Saatchi quit as co-chairman of the Conservative Party following the election defeat and publicly criticised the campaign afterwards.

According to media reports, he was unhappy with the focus on issues such as immigration and said the campaign had treated the public like "morons". He also blamed himself for his role in the defeat.

News of the charges comes as the party considers moving back into its old Smith Square headquarters, after it failed to sell the building having moved out two years ago.

The party is deep in debt, owing a reported £12m in loans.

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