Labour narrow gap on Tories in pre-election donations funding
1 min read
Labour almost matched the Conservatives in big donations in the fourth week of the election campaign after the Tories dominated previous periods, new figures reveal.
The Electoral Commission show the Tories took £1,115,833 between 24 May and 30 May, compared to £1,046,692 for Labour.
The statistics, which only account for donations worth more than £7,500, are in marked contrast to the previous week’s tally, which showed Theresa May’s party took £3.7m while Labour raised just £330,000 – almost all of which came from trade unions, primarily Unite.
The Tories’ largest bloc donation this week came from regular party donor and billionaire businessman Michael Hintze, who offered £250,000, with a handful of other individual donors offering sums of £100,000.
As in previous weeks, Labour’s funding largely flowed from the trade unions, with Unite providing £500,000, followed by the Communication Workers’ Union on £250,000.
Elsewhere the Liberal Democrats received £103,120, the Women’s’ Equality Party took £20,544, the Greens £10,000.
Jeremy Corbyn said Labour was more reliant on small donations which did not meet the threshold to be reported to the Electoral Commission.
“The difference in Labour and the Conservatives’ campaigns reflect the clear choice facing the electorate tomorrow: a government for the many, or a government funded by and run in the interests of the few,” the Labour leader said.
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