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The Conservatives and Labour raised more than £18.5mn in donations in the first quarter of this year as the two major UK political parties built up war chests for this year’s general election.
Electoral Commission data published on Thursday showed the two parties amassed significant cash piles, with Labour raising roughly £9.5mn to the Conservatives’ £9mn in the first three months of the year. Donations took place before the election was called on May 22.
The Tories received £47.4mn in donations last year, well in excess of the £35mn limit on election spending. Labour took in £21.7mn, including a record £13mn in individual donations.
In total, all UK political parties raised £23mn in the first quarter of 2024, up from £15mn the previous year.
Major donors were flocking to parties even before Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the general election would take place on July 4.
The Conservatives accepted £5mn in donations from the health entrepreneur Frank Hester in the first quarter of this year, bringing his total contributions to the party to more than £15mn since the start of 2023.
His donations took place before reports that he had made controversial remarks about veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott, including that she made “you just want to hate all Black women”. Sunak has come under pressure to return Hester’s donations.
Anneliese Dodds, chair of the Labour party, said on Thursday that Sunak should have returned the donations after Hester made a series of allegedly “violent, misogynist and racist remarks” about Abbott.
The Conservative party said Hester apologised for his remarks and had shown contrition, adding that it considered the matter resolved.
Labour took £1.75mn from Dale Vince, founder of green energy company Ecotricity, in the first quarter of this year and £700,000 from Martin Taylor, a Mayfair-based hedge fund manager, who also donated more than £1.3mn to affiliate group Labour Together, which is close to the party’s leadership.
Vince told the Financial Times that he had given a further £1mn to Labour on May 23, the day after the election had been called. This brings his total donations in excess of £5mn.
Donations data for the election campaign period will be published on a weekly basis starting next week.
Vince is one of three businessmen expected to each give Labour about £5mn. The others are supermarket scion Lord David Sainsbury and Gary Lubner, former chief executive of Belron, parent company of Autoglass.
The Liberal Democrats raised nearly £3mn in the first quarter of this year, including £250,000 from venture philanthropist Stephen Dawson and £40,000 from William Reeves, an American hedge fund manager, who also donated £50,000 to Labour Together.
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