logo
Tory donations twice as high as Labour's in last part of 2024

Tory donations twice as high as Labour's in last part of 2024

The Guardian06-03-2025

The Conservatives raised twice as much in donations as Labour at the end of last year, including £250,000 from Michael Ashcroft.
Despite some Tory donors flirting with Nigel Farage's Reform UK and others switching to Labour at the election, the party managed to raise almost £2m in the last three months of 2024 as Kemi Badenoch took over the leadership.
Labour raised £1m from donors, at least half of which came from trade unions. One party source said Labour had struggled to gain enthusiasm from businesses to donate amid worries about the impact of the national insurance rise and other tax choices.
Lord Ashcroft, a dual British and Belizean citizen and former Conservative party treasurer who is also a pollster and political publisher, donated more than £5m to the Tories in the decade running up to 2010 before cutting back during the David Cameron years. His £250,000 donation was his largest since he gave £500,000 in the 2017 election campaign.
The Conservatives also brought in £200,000 from the Northern Irish industrialist Chris Rea and more than £150,000 from Richard Harpin, the founder of HomeServe. A number of other donations of £50,000 appeared to be annual subscriptions for membership of the party's donor clubs.
Some Tory sources sceptical of Badenoch's leadership still claimed the party was struggling for its usual level of funds and was at risk of losing further donors to Reform.
Bassim Haidar, a major Tory donor, and Mohamed Amersi, another donor, both contributed to Reform by attending a fundraiser this January.
Overall, the political parties collectively raised £100m in 2024 – substantially less than the £117m that was donated in the previous election year of 2019, when Boris Johnson went head to head with Jeremy Corbyn.
In the last quarter of 2024, Reform UK raised £280,000, including £100,000 from Roger Nagioff, a private equity boss who appears to be based in Monaco, according to his LinkedIn profile.
When the former Tory donor Nick Candy took over as Reform's treasurer in December, the party boasted it would be bringing in seven-figure donations. However, its new donations are yet to make a significant impact.
The party had looked like it could attract a £100m donation from Elon Musk, but he subsequently seemed to back away from this prospect after a spat with Farage about Farage's decision to distance the party from the far-right leader Tommy Robinson.
Sign up to First Edition
Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters
after newsletter promotion
Overall, the parties raised just over £7m in the last quarter of 2024, compared with £22.6m in the same period in 2023.
Jackie Killeen, the director of administration and regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: 'Almost £100m in donations was accepted by political parties during 2024. It is not unusual to see a spike in donations in the lead-up to general elections as political parties began to campaign, and a drop in donations in the quarters after.'
She said the Electoral Commission would like to see strengthening of the law around limiting company donations to the money they have made in the UK, requiring parties to conduct know-your-donor checks on donations to assess and manage their risk, and ensure those who donate to unincorporated associations are permissible donors.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

A nuanced approach to ageing, sex and gender
A nuanced approach to ageing, sex and gender

The Guardian

time15 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

A nuanced approach to ageing, sex and gender

Born in 1976, I am around the same age as Susanna Rustin and the generation of 'middle-aged, gender-critical women' who believe that their biological sex should underpin and define their rights (Why is there such a generational divide in views on sex and gender in Britain?, 5 June). I am not one of those people. Forty-nine years' experience of living in a female body in a world deformed by class, caste and economic and racial inequality – never mind environmental destruction – has only made me wonder quite why it matters so much to some people. A truly progressive society should be moving towards seeing the person first, both beyond and in profound recognition of their politicised identities. One can see biological sex as both fundamental and immaterial at the same time. As I approach 50, it's clear to me that it's possible to hold both these thoughts simultaneously. My menopausal womanhood matters as it gets in the way of things I want to do in life. But there's no way it matters to me above all else, and there's no chance it gets in the way to a greater degree than the various effects of social and economic inequality. It is a fallacy to suggest that trans inclusivity is more compatible with capitalism than with collective liberation. If the Progress Pride flag is flown from a corporate building – a rare sight in my experience compared with the rainbow Pride flag – it's not because it 'suits them', in Rustin's words, to shift attention away from class politics towards individual expression. Perhaps younger people better understand that corporate interests don't engage with class politics anyway, so how's a flag going to hurt anyone? I was born with breasts and ovaries, and still have them; I have given birth twice. These facts have had undeniable effects on my life – but so has the disadvantage of my class of birth and the continuing advantage of my whiteness. If I were to look at every aspect of my life through the prism of my reproductive organs, I would be limiting the possibilities of looking at the multiple effects of all those factors in the whole – the effects of which can only lead one to conclude that they are human, a person, first. It's called intersectionality, and that term was come up with by Kimberlé Crenshaw, who was born in 1959. Lynsey HanleyLiverpool Susanna Rustin lists several possibilities for why gen Z are more likely to advocate for the inclusion of transgender women in single-sex spaces. One thing she did not mention is that it may be due to the personal relationships that this demographic is more likely to have with transgender individuals, and how much more easily it is to sympathise with the struggles of those we know. As an older member of gen Z, I have had two openly trans peers in my cohort during my time at university, my former neighbour was transgender, and now in my workplace I have a transgender colleague. This resembles the norm – a Guardian article from June 2022 suggests that 50% of British gen Zers said they knew at least one transgender person. I would argue that gen Z more openly fights for the inclusion and protections of transgender women because we're more likely to see them as truly women, rather than 'self-identifying' individuals, due to our personal connections with them. To me, my trans female colleague would intrude on my bodily privacy the same amount as my cis female colleague would. As always, I implore others to seek out the voices and stories of transgender people if knowing them personally may be outside your generational demographic, so we can better empathise with this often scapegoated BarkerCamelford, Cornwall Thank you for such a well-written and clearly argued article by Susanna Rustin. I am pleased to see the Guardian publishing this piece. It is very important to be able to speak openly about these important issues and engage in frank but respectful debate. I completely agree with the author and would also add that with age comes experience, a certain weariness, a generally more nuanced outlook on life and a deep understanding of how embodied our experiences are but also anger – anger that hard-won women's rights, protections, dignity and safety can be so easily dismissed by so-called and address supplied Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Farage's press conference tour is the ideal way to indulging his narcissism
Farage's press conference tour is the ideal way to indulging his narcissism

The Guardian

time15 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Farage's press conference tour is the ideal way to indulging his narcissism

If it's Tuesday, it must be … checks notes … London. We've reached the point where Nigel Farage has taken to arranging press conferences for himself in various locations around the country on an almost daily basis. On Monday he was in Port Talbot telling the Welsh to get back down the mines, today he was in Westminster to reveal the identity of Reform's new party chair after Zia Yusuf's abrupt resignation last week. Who knows where he will be tomorrow? The press conference is Nige's happy place. The ideal way to indulge his narcissism. A room full of people all there to listen to him. And him alone. Others are only admitted into his world on sufferance. They must know their place in life. That they owe their chance of glory only as a satellite of his own ego. He only knows he's truly alive if there are cameras there to record his existence. To get to sleep at night, he watches his greatest hits on TikTok, all the while murmuring to himself, 'You're the best, Nige. You're the best.' Moments before Nige made his appearance, the supporting cast took their seats. First Richard Tice. The loyal Dicky who has made being a bridesmaid to Nigel his life's work. Every humiliation heaped upon him – sudden demotion to deputy leader – accepted with a permatanned grin. Not even a hint of annoyance. Ask not what Nige can do for you. Ask what you can do for Nige. Then Sarah Pochin. Reform's very own Nurse Ratched. Never knowingly caught with a smile. She had transgressed by suggesting a burqa ban at last week's PMQs. Her punishment was to be a sharp put-down from Nige himself. Reform had had some defections from the Tories, he would say. And all of them had been failures. Time for Nurse Ratched to perform electric shock therapy on himself. Lee Anderson just looked fed-up and bored. Another Nige presser for which he was obliged to be part of the furniture. James McMurdock was just bewildered. Out of his depth. As usual. Hard to believe, but this hapless quartet are likely to have key cabinet posts if Reform wins the next election. Dicky as chancellor? 30p Lee as foreign secretary? Prepare to leave the country. Last in were Yusuf and David Bull. Dave is the only man to have spent longer on the sunbed than Dicky. Perhaps they have a timeshare. He is also the next Reform party chair. Dave likes to think he is the great communicator: a TV presenter of note. The reality is much sadder than that. Having peaked as a presenter of Most Haunted, his career has steadily faded into obscurity. Last seen – allegedly – he was presenting his own show on TalkTV to an audience measured in single figures. But Dave's biggest asset is his loyalty. His head is so far up Nige's bum that it occasionally peeks out of his mouth. He will never say a word that hasn't been pre-authorised. He knows his place. Lights, cameras, actions. Nige appeared centre stage, basking in the attention. Cracking jokes. Laughing along with himself. The ship had been righted and he was still very much the captain. Principally, he was keen to establish the official version of events. What followed was pure passive-aggression. Lighthearted barbs intended to humiliate. The reality was that Zia had dared to consider himself Nige's equal. Had been the one tasked with professionalising the party. Had got sick and tired of the constant racism from members of his own party. Including from Nurse Ratched. Had been ground down and decided he had better things to do with his life than to feed Farage's solipsism. But this was no time for reality. So we got the Waltons treatment. Pure saccharine. It had all been a misunderstanding. Just one of those things, Zia had got a bit emotional. No big deal. Reform was one big happy family. To prove the point, Zia was dragged on stage. Exhibit A. To officially recant and swear his undying allegiance to Nige, the One True God. He had made the biggest mistake of his life, he said. Sad face. He didn't know what had come over him. Zia would never question Nige again. He would devote the rest of his life to reading the collected sayings of Nigel and to doing good works. All he could do was say sorry for the trouble he had caused. He looked forward to much more racist abuse. His new work would be the greatest challenge anyone had known since the second world war. Up bounced Diddy Dave to announce himself to the world again. He had been lying around in the store cupboard waiting to be of use to Nige again and when the summons had come he had answered the call. Thrilled to be a relevant irrelevance again. The rest of his speech was an outpouring of inconsequentiality. No one does inconsequentiality better. He is a man of no importance. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Back to Nige, ready and waiting to take questions from all comers. He is the only party leader to actively invite scrutiny. Primarily because he doesn't really give a shit. He is on a roll. The polls are going his way and it's not inconceivable Reform could win the next election. What he would do if he became prime minister is another matter. Panic probably. His method for dealing with his party is to treat them all as children. Listen to him speak and you'd imagine he was a bleeding-heart liberal. Certainly compared to his MPs. Take the death penalty. Personally he wasn't in favour – too many miscarriages of justice – but he wasn't going to stop his kids from having their say. If they wanted to kill innocent people, then who was he to disagree? Same with the racists in his party. He didn't have a problem with immigrants, but if some of his MPs wanted to drown them, then he could go along with that. Nige was rather more hazy on anything that resembled policy. He couldn't explain how he was going to reopen the mines and the steel furnaces. He couldn't say how he was going to deport 1.2 million immigrants and separate 200,000 children from their parents. But these were unimportant details. Reform isn't a party of action. It's a party of grievance. A vibes party for those who think the country is screwed. And for Nige, the vibes are looking good. Dicky rose to his feet to applaud. Zia did likewise. He's learning fast.

Independent Scotland would break ties with Israel, says Stephen Flynn
Independent Scotland would break ties with Israel, says Stephen Flynn

The National

time20 minutes ago

  • The National

Independent Scotland would break ties with Israel, says Stephen Flynn

Speaking to The News Agents podcast, the SNP Westminster leader also said he does not believe it would "wise" for SNP MPs to visit Israel, but he would be "amazed" if they decided to as they are "not daft". He said the UK's position on the atrocities being committed by Israel in Gaza has been "so weak for far too long". Asked if an independent Scotland under the SNP would close embassies in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv and if it would break off diplomatic relations with Israel, Flynn replied "yes" to both questions. On whether he would advise SNP MPs to not visit Israel, Flynn said: "I don't think they'd be wise to visit Israel. READ MORE: UK sanctions Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich over Gaza "I imagine they would probably get the same response that the couple of Labour MPs did at the airport a few months ago, which was where they got taken aside and turned back home." He went on: "It's up to them to decide what they want to do. I'd be amazed if any of them did, because they're not daft, and they probably know that they would get turned around and stuck on a plane right back out Israel. "Look, I'm deeply, deeply upset and angry about what's happened in Gaza and what continues to happen in Gaza, and the fact that the UK position has been so weak for far too long in respect of this. And I think it's important that you convey your views to people who are rational actors." In April, Labour MPs were denied entry to the occupied West Bank. Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said they were "astounded at the unprecedented step taken by the Israeli authorities" to refuse British MPs entry. (Image: News Agents) A statement from the pair said they had 'spoken out in Parliament in recent months' on Israel's war on Gaza and parliamentarians "should feel free to speak truthfully in the House of Commons without fear of being targeted'. Flynn's comments come after the UK Government sanctioned two far-right Israeli ministers over their comments about Gaza. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, finance minister, will have their assets frozen and travel bans imposed. Smotrich approved the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He also campaigned against allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. Ben-Gvir has advocated for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, and said that the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem should be replaced with a synagogue. Later on in the podcast, Flynn was asked about whether he intends to contest the leadership of the SNP in the future. READ MORE: Freedom Flotilla Coalition gives update on Madleen crew detained by Israel While he is going to campaign to become an MSP, he stressed he backs John Swinney as SNP leader and believes he can "make sure we're fighting fit to go on and win the election" at Holyrood next year. Flynn said: "It is my intention to stand for Holyrood, I'm seeking to be a candidate for the Scottish Parliament elections next year, in an area that's probably similar to the seat I hold at Westminster." He went on: "When Humza Yousaf stood down as First Minister, the first person I called to take over was John Swinney. When Nicola Sturgeon, prior to that, announced that she was standing down again, the first person I called to take over was John Swinney. Now that's a wee bit of an insight into my thinking. "And my thinking is very clear that John Swinney is by far the best person for the job. I think he's the best politician in Scotland. I think he displays that in Holyrood with acumen on a weekly basis. "And I'm pretty confident over the course of next 11 months, he can make sure we're fighting fit to go on and win the election. The polls would indicate that we are going to win the election. "But it can't be about polls. It has to be about policies and people. And when the SNP is focused on that and our ultimate goal of independence, we tend to do well."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store