Tories raised three times more in big donations than Labour during election campaign

Conservatives rake in £18m compared to just £5.1m for Jeremy Corbyn's party

(AP)

The Conservatives registered more than three times as much in large donations as Labour during the general election campaign, new figures have revealed.

Electoral Commission returns show that the Tories raised just short of £18m in the five weeks before 12 December, while Labour registered £5.1m.

The Brexit Party raised £4.1m and the Liberal Democrats £1.2m.

The figures cover donations of more than £7,500. Labour is expected to have raised more of its campaign funding through smaller donations.

In addition to the £18m, the Conservatives also declared a £500,000 loan from travel company Trailfinders in the final week of the campaign.

In the week before polling day, the Tories banked £2.5m compared to just £165,000 for Labour.

While most of Labour's big donations came from trade unions, the Conservatives raked in millions from wealthy individuals.

In the final week of the campaign alone, they banked £500,000 from Jonathan Wood, a hedge fund manager and Brexit supporter, £250,000 from property developer Javad Marandi and another £250,000 from financier Mark Coombs.

Other Tory donors during the campaign included owners of private hospitals, and the family of a Russian oligarch.

Labour had been forced to rely more heavily on its trade union affiliates after several of the party's former donors withdrew their support in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

The party's biggest donation in the last week was £75,000 received from the Aslef union. It also received £20,000 from the TSSA union and £20,000 from the RMT.