A millionaire hedge fund baron who was a key backer of Liam Fox had hosted the new Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, at a series of lavish fundraising dinners for the Conservative Party.


Mr Hammond, appointed by David Cameron as a "safe pair of hands" to the Ministry of Defence after Mr Fox's resignation, lists Michael Hintze, an Australian-born former Goldman Sachs banker, several times in the MPs' register of interests as a donor – including one for "£1,700 hospitality at Carlton Political Club Dinner" – before and after he became a Cabinet minister.

Mr Hintze, one of the richest men in the UK with an estimated fortune of £550 million, donated more than half the budget for a charity, Atlantic Bridge, set up by Liam Fox