£1m gift in will helps Tories outstrip all parties combined in post-election donations
2 min read
The Conservatives raked in more cash in the three months after the general election than all the other parties put together after a generous gift left in the will of a supporter.
Patrick H Gregory left £1m to the Tories in a dying wish and the cash came through shortly after Theresa May lost her Commons majority in a humiliating election performance.
In total, the party added £3.7m to its war chest between 1 July and the end of September compared with just over £2m for all the other parties combined.
Labour received £1.7m - mainly from trade unions - while the Lib Dems took £600,000, the SNP £44,000, Ukip £36,000, and the Co-operative party £30,000.
But the data published by the Electoral Commission only reveal donations of £7,500 or more.
Labour is thought to rake in large sums in small donations from supporters. It raised some £5m that way in the days leading up to the general election in June.
Pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaign group Momentum also deals mainly in smaller donations - raking in some £580,000 a year in membership fees plus more in extra one-off sums.
A spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “Momentum don't have any big donors, and the vast majority of our funding comes from small donations and membership fees.”
In the wake of the general election, a Labour spokesperson said: "Labour supporters donated over £5m to fund our campaign with an average donation of £20, arranged thousands of events across the country and tens of thousands volunteered.
"While the Conservatives ran a campaign in the interests of, and paid for by, billionaires and bankers, Labour's people-powered campaign showed that by coming together the British people can transform our country for the many not the few."
