Leo Docherty posed on one of Lord Bamford’s JCB diggers in Baku when the company wanted to ‘raise their profile’ in the country

A Conservative minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office used an official visit to Azerbaijan to promote the interests of a billionaire party donor.

Leo Docherty, the Tory MP for Aldershot until 30 May, visited a showroom for JCB machinery in February 2023 and climbed behind the wheel of one the company’s diggers to “help promote UK products in Azerbaijan”. He later posted a photo on X of the visit, tagging the company’s official account.