Surge in private gifts to parties gives ‘super-donors’ growing influence on UK politics, report finds

Growing proportion of party cash coming from wealthy individuals, according to researchers

The gifts are going disproportionately to the Tories (PA)

A surge in private donations to political parties has put a small number of super-rich individuals in a position to wield “substantial influence” over the UK’s political process, a new report has warned.

Almost half of political donations in the UK – and 60 per cent in the run-up to the 2019 general election – now come from wealthy individuals, compared to around 40 per cent in the early 2000s, found academics from the University of Warwick’s CAGE Research Centre.

And the gifts from so-called “super-donors” are going disproportionately to the Conservative Party, which received £21.5m from 71 private individuals in 2019.