A total of £5.8m was raised by the various political parties between 6 and 12 June. Most of this was by the Labour Party, with Reform and the Liberal Democrats both outstripping the Conservatives.
By Tim Baker, Political reporter
The Labour Party raised almost £4.4m in the second full week of the general election campaign – close to 15 times the amount brought in by the Tories.
Rishi Sunak’s party took in just under £300,000 between 6 and 12 June.
Reform UK raised more than double this figure, with £742,000 taken. However, £500,000 of this money was handed over by Britain Means Business, a company run by Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice.
The Liberal Democrats also took in more than the Conservatives, raising £335,000.
The Green Party raised £20,000.
Labour raised £4,383,400 – and its partner the Co-operative Party raised £60,000.
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The Conservatives raised £292,500, according to Electoral Commission figures.
The Tory figure is also roughly half of what they raised in the first full week of the campaign.
Between 30 May and 5 June, the Conservatives took in £574,918, compared to Labour’s £926,908.
However, looking at the 2019 election, the Conservative Party raised 10 times this figure in the first week of the campaign – raising £5.7m between 6 and 12 November 2019.
Labour took in £218,500 at this time.
Who gave the parties the most money?
Digging into the breakdown from the Electoral Commission, we can see a bit more about who gave the different parties the most money.
As mentioned, Reform’s biggest donor is a company run by their deputy leader.
A man called David Lilley also gave the party £100,000, and another notable contributor was Holly Vukadinovic – the maiden name of model Holly Valance – who gave £50,000.
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For Labour, the biggest donor was Lord Sainsbury, who gave £2.5m, followed by Autoglass boss Gary Lubner, who handed over £900,000.
Their largest union donation came from train driver body Aslef, which donated £100,000.
For the Lib Dems, they received £150,000 from Adam Management Holdings, and another £100,000 from the late John Faulkner, a former party member who has left money to the party.
The Conservatives registered a £50,000 donation from “The Spring Lunch” – which is the name of one of their fundraising events – as well as £50,000 from Bestway Wholesale, a company which has a Tory peer named as a director.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
