The new Tory housing minister's constituency association was handed a donation from a former Putin deputy finance chief's wife – who owns a property firm.
Tory MP Lee Rowley became housing minister for the second time after Rishi Sunak's reshuffle earlier this month. But a potential conflict of interest has emerged as we can reveal Rowley’s constituency association received £2,500 from businesswoman Lubov Chernukhin.
Her husband, Vladimir, was Russian leader Vladimir Putin's deputy finance minister in the early 2000s. Lubov Chernukhin, a major Tory donor previously pictured with Theresa May and Liz Truss, is director and owner of Capital Construction and Development Ltd. The 51-year-old’s LinkedIn profile boasts the firm is "an international property development and advisory firm with particular focus on sustainability, environment, and design".
Rowley – who represents North East Derbyshire and also briefly served as housing minister under Truss – registered the donation from Lubov Chernukhin to his constituency association in April, his register of interests shows. Separate Electoral Commission records show it was a cash donation with the accounting unit listed as “North Derbyshire”.
Chernukhin once paid £160,000 in a fundraising auction in 2014 to play tennis with then PM David Cameron and Boris Johnson. Russian-born Chernukhin is a British citizen. According to Companies House, she owns 75% or more of shares in Capital Construction and Development Limited, as well as being its director.
Her LinkedIn profile says: “I am a British businesswoman, philanthropist, and investor interested in various business areas and topics, including high street renewal, foreign investment, property development, organic farming, and the environment.” It adds: “I founded CFEC in 2022, a company dedicated to reviving UK high streets by creating family-focused entertainment centres and currently am a Director at Capital Construction & Development Limited, an international property development and advisory firm with particular focus on sustainability, environment, and design.”
A DLUHC spokesperson said: “This donation was declared in the usual and proper way before Minister Rowley was Housing Minister. All relevant processes are in place to manage any new and ongoing conflicts of interest for all ministers in line with the ministerial code.”
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mrs Chernukhin. A spokesperson for Mrs Chernukhin said: “Mrs Chernukhin’s donations to the Conservative Party, and various MPs, are all personal donations based on her political preferences. As a British citizen, Mrs Chernukhin is perfectly entitled to make donations to political parties and representatives as she sees fit, and all donations have been declared correctly in accordance with Electoral Commission rules.”
They added: “It is entirely false to suggest that Lubov Chernukhin’s donation to Lee Rowley’s constituency association was in any way improper. The donation far pre-dates his appointment as housing minister, and as you identify, has been declared correctly in accordance with Electoral Commission rules, as have all other personal donations from Mrs Chernukhin to the Conservative Party, and various MPs.
“As a British citizen, Mrs Chernukhin is perfectly entitled to make donations to political parties and representatives as she sees fit, and any suggestion to the contrary would be xenophobic. Secondly, any suggestion that Mrs Chernukhin’s political donations are in any way influenced by the Kremlin is insulting and categorically false. Let me be clear – Vladimir and Lubov Chernukhin do not support, and have never supported President Putin.
“Desktop research would reveal Mr Chernukhin’s reasons for leaving Russia almost twenty years ago – he was dismissed from his role as head of a state bank for his loyalty to Mikhail Kasyanov, a vocal critic of Mr Putin, and subsequently had to leave the country. Any suggestions that Mr Chernukhin is an “ex-ally” of Vladimir Putin are therefore patently false and defamatory.”
The Conservative Party and North Derbyshire Conservatives were contacted for comment.