In keeping with rules to ensure that public appointments are made on merit, a Number 10 statement said that the financier had declared “no political activity” over the last five years.

But documents at the Electoral Commission uncovered by the Guardian show that Singer, the former European chairman of Advent International, has given the Tories £146,202.38 over the past five years, £48,500 of which was handed over in the last year. Since 2005, he has given £302,703 to the party.
The failure to disclose donations has prompted concern among MPs and staff at the gallery that Singer’s reappointment is part of a gradual ‘politicisation by stealth’ of the gallery. …”