Tories raise £12m in three months thanks to boost from billionaire treasurer
Conservative donations far outstripped those to rival parties, but Labour has been promised £5 million before the next election.
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Your support makes all the difference.The Conservative Party raised more than £12 million in donations in the first three months of the year, according to figures from the Electoral Commission.
Donations to the Tories published on Thursday far outstripped those to other parties, with Labour raising only £4.4 million and the Liberal Democrats £1.3 million.
In total, the Conservatives received £12.3 million in the first quarter of 2023, with public funding taking Labour and the Liberal Democrats’ totals to £5.9 million and £1.7 million respectively.
The total for the Tories was boosted by a £5 million donation from Mohamed Mansour, the party’s senior treasurer and a former minister in the government of Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
The party also received £2 million from Indian-born textiles tycoon Amit Lohia and another £2 million from party treasurer and businessman Graham Edwards.
Labour’s biggest donation was a £500,000 gift from Gary Lubner, former chief executive of the company that owns Autoglass.
Mr Lubner, whose grandparents fled to South Africa to escape Russian pogroms, is expected to donate £5 million to the party before the next election and told the Financial Times he had been impressed with Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to root out antisemitism from Labour.
Labour also received £2.3 million from its trade union backers, including £1.1 million from Unite and £359,168 from Unison.
We know transparency of party and campaigner finance is important for people, but our research tells us that only 24% of people believe party funding is transparent
In total, UK political parties received £20.9 million in donations and public funds in the first three months of 2023, compared to £12.8 million in the first three months of 2022.
Louise Edwards, of the Electoral Commission, said publishing the figures was vital to ensure transparency but called on the Government to do more to raise confidence in the system.
She said: “We publish details of these donations so that voters understand how political parties are funded.
“We know transparency of party and campaigner finance is important for people, but our research tells us that only 24% of people believe party funding is transparent.
“It’s clear that publishing this information is not enough. We continue to recommend to the UK Government that it reforms the system, to help protect parties from those who seek to evade the law, and give voters more confidence.”