And that prominence has brought him a renewed dose of bad press in that country. There is a compelling story being reported tonight by the BBC in London. It's about Lord Ashcroft and connects him to a company well known in Belize, Johnston Construction which suddenly closed down in 2010.

Johnston rose to prominence during the last two terms of the PUP, building the Marine Parade Boulevard in Belize City, the Orange Walk Bypass, The Los Lagos Community, the San Pedro Pier, the ITVET buildings in Stann Creek and Cayo and - in private work - has built The Radisson Fort George, Banyan Bay Resort in San Pedro, and the Belize Bank headquarters, to name only a few.

Anyone with any depth of experience in Belize will know that Johnston was a part of the Ashcroft Alliance, but in the web of companies, no one could say for sure who owned it.

But, the BBC's PANORAMA - an investigative news programme - reported earlier tonight that Lord Ashcroft "misled the stock market and the media about his links with that company. He publicly declared that he sold the firm in 1999, and claimed to have no 'economic, beneficial or legal interest' in the firm."

But after a two year investigation, PANORAMA obtained evidence which shows that Ashcroft continued to secretly control the company long after that date.

Panorama has spoken to 14 former employees, who all say they were told, long after 1999, that Lord Ashcroft was their boss. Producers for the programme also got their hands on dozens of faxes that were sent to Lord Ashcroft by Johnston's chief executive after the 1999 sale.

The BBC reports that they cover a seven year period and were all addressed to "MAA" - presumably, Micheal A. Ashcroft. The programme also reports that Lord Ashcroft then wrote his instructions on some of the faxes and sent them back. The company collapsed in debts of 19 million pounds with workers saying they weren't properly compensated.