Tories lost Commons majority despite raking in millions more than Labour in big-money donations
1 min read
Theresa May lost her Commons majority despite the Tories receiving almost £8m more than Labour in large donations.
The Electoral Commission has released figures for the fifth week of the campaign, showing the Tories again far outstripping Labour for major financial contributions.
The Conservatives raked in £1,605,800 in donations of more than £7,500 between 31 May and 6 June, just two days before polling day.
The Liberal Democrats took in £353,950 during the same week, while Labour received just £65,000.
Over the campaign period beginning on 3 May, the Tories raised £12,241,291 in large donations compared to Labour’s £4,509,416.
However, Labour’s campaign chief Andrew Gwynne revealed today that the party’s coffers were boosted by more than £4m in small donations.
“Our fundraising reached new highs,” he wrote in the Guardian.
“Over £4m was raised in small donations, most of it from 220,000 online donations.”
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 2015 while Labour gained 30.
The Electoral Commission’s figures for large donations for the final two days of the campaign will be published next Tuesday.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
