New Tory treasurer hands party £750,000 as it rakes in twice as much as Labour in donations
2 min read
The incoming treasurer of the Conservatives gave the party another £750,000 - as new figures revealed the party took part twice as many donations as Labour in the past three months.
Ehud Sheleg handed over the huge sum just weeks after donating another £500,000 to Tory coffers.
The Electoral Commission revealed that the Conservatives received £4,880,201 between the start of April and the end of June, compared to Labour’s £2,121,163.
Mr Sheleg's £750,000 donation made him the laregst single donor to any party over the three-month period.
The Israeli-born businessman, a long-term supporter of the Conservatives, is set to become the party’s treasurer in early September.
Mr Sheleg, who is the owner of the Halcyon art gallery in London, has become a major Tory benefactor in recent times, having also handed the party £250,000 in the run-up to last year's general election.
The second highest Tory donation came from businessman Anthony Martin, who handed them £250,000.
Meanwhile, the bulk of Labour donations once again came from the unions, with Unite, GMB and Usdaw pitching in just short of £1.5m between them.
The figures show the gap between the main two parties has narrowed since the last quarter, when Theresa May’s party raked in £4.7m – over three times Labour's £1.4m.
The Liberal Democrats received the third largest amount of donations at £594,927, with £234,347 coming from multinational firm, Ferring Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
Ukip meanwhile took in £114,044, while the SNP received £62,103 - both major boosts on last quarter when neither party surpassed the threshold before donations are reported by the Commission.
Meanwhile the Alliance party, the Lib Dems’ sister party in Northern Ireland, benefitted most in the province by taking in £36,561, with the only other party forced to declare being Sinn Fein, who took in £17,000.
In total £8,405,500 was declared in donations to parties from mainland Britain – significantly higher than the previous three quarters, which each totted up to below £7m.
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