Tories raise more money from wealthy donors than all other political parties with £37m election drive

Record levels of donations for all parties in last quarter of 2019

(Reuters)

The Conservatives accepted £37.7m from wealthy donors during the final quarter of 2019 in a bumper election funding haul that surpassed all the other political parties combined.

New figures from the Electoral Commission put Boris Johnson’s party miles ahead in terms of cash gifts, with Labour reporting £10.6m of donations and the Brexit Party on £7.1m.

The Liberal Democrats overtook Labour with £13.6m, helped by an enormous £8m donation from pro-Remain peer Lord Sainsbury, while the Greens received around £403,500 and the SNP accepted £213,000.

Donations hit the highest level since records began during the final three months of 2019, with £70.1m reported by all the political parties, the electoral watchdog said.

The figures include the December general election period and reveal the financial firepower Mr Johnson had to funnel into his decisive victory at the polls.

Political parties accepted over £113m in donations over the whole year, the largest value ever reported – and almost £40m more than in 2017, the previous record.

The Conservatives’ largest financial backers were the Bamford family, who manufacture JCB diggers, who donated £2.46m through 36 different donations over the three-month period.

Mr Johnson famously took part in an election stunt where he drove a JCB digger through a polystyrene wall emblazoned with the words “Get Brexit Done”.

Billionaire Brexiteer Peter Hargreaves gave £1m to the Tories for their election campaign, despite once allegedly calling Mr Johnson a “buffoon”, while theatre producer John Gore also handed over £1m to the Conservatives.

Donations worth £209,000 were also accepted from Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a Vladimir Putin ally, who has handed thousands of pounds to the Tories in recent years.

Ms Chernukhin, whose husband Vladimir was Russia’s finance minister, recently shelled out for a tennis game with Mr Johnson and Tory co-chairman Ben Elliott at the annual “Black and White” ball for Conservative donors.

The Tories also accepted £500,000 from the wife of former arms fixer Wafic Said, a Syrian-born businessman who was involved in a multibillion deal between the UK and Saudi Arabia during the 1980s.

His wife Rosemary, who appears in the register as Ann R Said, is a long-time Tory donor.

David Ross, who co-founded Carphone Warehouse, also donated close to £270,000 to the Tories. The businessman hit the headlines last month for facilitating a New Year’s trip to Mustique for the prime minister and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds.

Labour’s largest donations all came from trade unions, with more than £5m from influential Unite union, including a single £3m cash gift. Unite boss Len McCluskey was a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn.

The GMB gave £921,000 to Mr Corbyn’s party, while Unison handed over £898,000 and the CWU donated more than £717,000.

Lord Sainsbury, a former minister under Tony Blair, donated £8m to the Liberal Democrats in the largest single payment – despite vowing in 2017 to stop making donations to political parties.

British businessman Christopher Harborne sank £6.2m into Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, including a £1.4m donation only days before the election.

Jon Trickett, shadow cabinet office minister, said: “For years the UK economy has failed to work for the majority of people in this country, instead benefiting an increasingly small few in the City of London.

“These latest donations confirm that the Conservative Party is the party of this few, and that they cannot be trusted to govern in the interests of the many.

“The time is long overdue for an overhaul of our political finance rules, which fail to protect our democracy from undue influence.”

Louise Edwards, director of regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: “In the final three months of 2019, political parties reported accepting the highest value of donations in one quarter since our records began.

“The value of the donations accepted by parties in the last quarter exceeded the previous high, from 2017, by almost £28m.

“While there is no limit to the value of donations political parties can accept, spending rules are in place during elections to keep the campaign fair.

“Publishing this data allows voters to see clearly how parties in Great Britain are being funded, enhancing public confidence and trust in our democratic processes.”

It comes after Mr Johnson faced criticism for attending a lavish ball for Tory donors earlier this week – but failing to find the time to visit flood-stricken areas in the north and the Midlands.

One Tory donor reportedly paid £60,000 for gold and silver versions of the Brexit 50p coin, while Ms Chernukhin scooped a game of tennis with the prime minister.