KPMG has quietly abandoned a longstanding practice of making donations in kind to MPs and political parties by providing researchers to help in formulating policy and legislation. Donations in kind from KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte were widespread in the 15 years running up to the 2015 election, with KPMG making £198,093 worth of donations in kind in 2015, falling to £40,575in 2017. However, such political donations have tumbled after the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, decided to abandon them. It did not do so at all during the 2017 campaign, although the company did not say it had abandoned the practice. Instead, political donations by the big four firms have become increasingly concentrated on paying former ministers to speak at corporate events.

Source: The Guardian May 28, 2018 15:22 UTC