Final election donations reveal Tories raked in millions more than Labour and still lost majority
2 min read
The Conservatives lost their majority at the general election despite raking in £8m more than Labour in big money donations, new figures have revealed.
Theresa May managed to attract almost £13m from major donors while Jeremy Corbyn took in just £4.5m – mainly from trade unions – according to the final tally from the Electoral Commission.
But Labour coffers were boosted by more than £5m in small donations, the party confirmed today.
A 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."
Parties must declare donations of more than £7,500 to the elections watchdog – but anything below that can pass under the radar.
In the final day of the election campaign the Tories reaped £50,000 in big donations while on election day itself they took in another £185,000.
Labour meanwhile received no donations in those two days but did declare an extra £10,000 from the previous week of campaigning.
The Socialist Party of Great Britain was the only other party to get a donation on the final day of campaigning – taking £16,300 from Charlotte Lilian O'Gorman.
Over the course of the campaign the Liberal Democrats received £1.1m in large donations while the Women’s Equality Party took £150,000 and Ukip £99,000.
The SNP received £63,000, the Green Party £53,000 and the Socialist Party of Great Britain £26,000.
The Conservative financial advantage did not deliver their hoped-for majority of Commons seats, however, with the Tories ending up with 12 fewer MPs than in 2015 while Labour gained 30.
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