A BILLIONAIRE former press baron gave £12,000 to the Tories two weeks after his property development plans got the green light from the government, it emerged today.

Richard Desmond’s plans for 1,500 homes on the Isle of Dogs in east London were unlawfully approved by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick.

Tower Hamlets council rejected his £1 billion scheme for a “vibrant waterfront neighbourhood” on the site of the former Westferry Printworks as it would have consisted of 21 per cent affordable housing, far below the 35 per cent usually required.

Mr Jenrick overruled the local authority on January 14, the day before Tower Hamlets councillors approved a “community levy” on developments that would have cost Mr Desmond’s company Northern & Shell up to £50 million.

After the council mounted a High Court legal challenge, Mr Jenrick accepted that his original decision had been “unlawful by reason of apparent bias,” quashed the decision and pledged to take no further part in decisions on the application.

Today, Labour called on Mr Jenrick to publish all correspondence with Mr Desmond, who has donated millions to Ukip in the past.

Shadow housing and planning minister Mike Amesbury added that the revelation of the £12,000 donation came hours after Mr Jenrick had announced plans to strip councillors of planning powers and allow ministers to take over decision-making “for the benefit of their wealthy friends.”

Mr Desmond’s company Northern & Shell also publishes showbiz magazines and owns the Health Lottery.

It used to own the Daily Star and Daily Express newspapers before they were acquired by Reach, formerly Trinity Mirror, in 2018, and Channel 5 before its 2014 sale to US company Viacom.

Mr Desmond, nicknamed “Dirty Des” by Private Eye magazine, made his fortune from magazines, including pornographic titles.

Among his other former assets is pay-per-view company Portland TV, whose channels include Television X, XRated, and Dirty Talk.