Matthew Oakeshott

Matthew Oakeshott, Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, is a non-affiliated peer in the House of Lords, originally joining on the 1 May 2000 as a Liberal Democrats peer.Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, House of Lords, accessed 2 December 2011.
Oakeshott is a third cousin of the Sunday Times journalist Isabel Oakeshott.George Eaton, Did the Lib Dems know about Huhne's points swap?, New Statesman, 7 March 2013.
==Leaving the party==
Oakeshott left the Liberal Democrats in 2014 after he privately commissioned polls in the Lib Dems main seats in the UK to find out whether party leader Nick Clegg stepping down would affect voting. After leaving the party, Oakeshott said the Lib Dems are heading towards disaster with Clegg leading them and have lost their 'roots, values and principles'. Oakeshott quits Lib Dems with Clegg 'disaster' warning BBC News, 28 May 2014, accessed 26 January 2015 
==Donations==
In January 2015 it was revealed, in the last few months Oakeshott had donated £600,000 to thirty Labour and fifteen left of centre Liberal Democrat election candidates in an attempt to create an Ed Miliband-led progressive government. The seven sitting Lib Dem MPs to receive a money are Norman Baker, Lorely Burt, Tessa Munt, John Pugh, Martin Horwood, Adrian Sanders and Jenny Willott. Of the thirty Labour candidates, twenty-nine are attacking Tory marginals with small majorities and the other, Melanie Onn is fighting to hold her seat against Ukip. The Labour candidates include those in Carlisle, Hastings and Rye, Hove, and Brighton Kempton in the south; Gloucester and Kingswood in the west; and Great Yarmouth and Peterborough in the east. Another £10,000 has been given to the campaign to re-elect Caroline Lucas of the Green Party, MP for Brighton.
Oakeshott described his donations as, "doing his bit to save our country from a Tory government cringing at Ukip". Patrick Wintour Ex-Lib Dem peer donates to old party and Labour to boost anti-Tory drive Guardian, 21 January 2015, accessed 26 January 2015 
===Political Donations===
Recorded by the Electoral Commission:
Date
Name of donor
Amount
Donated to
Subsidiary (parties only)
27/02/2005
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£1,250.00	
Anthony Rowlands
04/02/2005
Lord Oakeshott
£4,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Central Party
30/06/2005
Lord Oakeshott
£6,750.00
Liberal Democrats
Central Party
06/03/2006
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£5,000.00
Chris Huhne MP
26/11/2007
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£5,000.00
Chris Huhne MP
31/12/2007
Lord Oakeshott
£5,500.00
Liberal Democrats
Central Party
06/02/2008
Lord Oakeshott
£5,000.00	
Liberal Democrats
Central Party
31/03/2010
Lord Oakeshott
£2,500.00
Liberal Democrats
Vauxhall
30/06/2010
Lord Oakeshott
£2,500.00
Liberal Democrats
Central Party
31/12/2010
Lord Oakeshott
£8,500.00
Liberal Democrats
Central Party
31/12/2011
Lord Oakeshott
£4,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Parliamentary Party In The Lords
30/11/2012
Lord Oakeshott
£4,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Parliamentary Party In The Lords
27/06/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£6,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Twickenham & Richmond	
14/04/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£4,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Parliamentary Party In The Lords
21/04/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£3,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Wells
31/12/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£20,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Harrogate & Knaresborough
26/11/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£20,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Berwick Upon Tweed
31/12/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£3,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Central Party
21/11/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£20,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Winchester
23/11/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£20,000.00
Liberal Democrats
West Dorset
31/12/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£20,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Watford
31/12/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£20,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Somerton & Frome
31/12/2014
Lord Oakeshott
£20,000.00
Liberal Democrats
Mid Dorset & North Poole	
10/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Worcester CLP
22/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Warrington South CLP
08/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Thurrock CLP
28/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
	£10,000.00
Labour Party
Stockton South CLP
30/11/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Rossendale and Darwen CLP	
31/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Nuneaton CLP
18/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Norwich North and South CLP
10/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£482,947.50
Labour Party
Kingswood CLP
18/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Great Grimsby CLP
31/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Gloucester CLP
16/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Erewash CLP
24/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Ealing Central and Acton CLP
10/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Dewsbury CLP
10/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£20,000.00
Labour Party
Cities of Brighton and Hove Labour Party	
19/11/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Carlisle CLP
10/12/2014
Lord Matthew Oakeshott
£10,000.00
Labour Party
Bury North CLP
 Electoral Commission, Donation Search, accessed 3 March 2015 
==External Resources==
*George Parker, Liberal Democrats fear Conservative election grip, FT.com, 30 November 2011. 
==Notes==
Oakeshott, MatthewOakeshott, MatthewOakeshott, MatthewOakeshott, Matthew