You may not know much about Michael Ashcroft.

He made his initial fortune in the 1970s from cleaning companies, when the then Conservative government forced compulsory competitive tendering on cleaning services in the National Health Service, other government departments and local councils. Wages and conditions of service – like holidays and sick-pay – for already low-paid staff were slashed further.

The income he received from that provided the basis for his international businesses operations, which he based in Belize, a well-known tax haven. His fortune is now estimated at £1,100m. In his 2005 autobiography, he admitted that Belize was a country where his interests have been “exempt from certain taxes for 30 years”.

This isn’t surprising. He had donated m to the right-wing People’s United Party when in opposition and then, when it won the election, introduced new laws that were very advantageous to him. In 2009, the new Prime Minister of Belize Dean Barrow told its parliament: “Ashcroft is an extremely powerful man. His net worth may well be equal to Belize's entire GDP. He is nobody to cross.”

Not satisfied with his influence in Belize, in 2004 he gave m to the Liberal Party in Australia - the biggest political donation in Australia’s history.

However, it’s his involvement in British democracy we need to be concerned about. When William Hague was leader, Michael Ashcroft gave £5m to and became Treasurer of the Conservative Party. His tenure was controversial: he was seen to pay little UK income tax because he claimed he was domiciled in Belize. But that didn’t stop Michael Hague nominating him for a Life Peerage.

The Lords Honours Scrutiny Committee blocked that nomination for more than a year, until in 2000 he eventually became Lord Ashcroft with conditions: "in order to meet the requirements for a working peer, Mr Michael Ashcroft has given his clear and unequivocal assurance that he will take up permanent residence in the United Kingdom again before the end of the calendar year. He would be introduced into the House of Lords only after taking up that residence".

Ever since then, Lord Ashcroft – now Deputy Chairman - has been pouring millions of pounds into the Conservative Party and especially into marginal parliamentary seats. But, he and David Cameron have consistently refused to confirm that he is both resident in the UK and paying tax here.

Now, after a 3 year battle, the independent the Information Commissioner has ordered that the private exchanges that took place before Lord Ashcroft was made a peer are made public.

It’s time to come clean.