Tories spent millions more than Labour at general election and STILL lost majority
2 min read
The Conservatives spent £7.5m more than Labour at the general election that cost Theresa May her Commons majority last year, new figures have revealed.
The Tories spent an eye-watering £18.5m at the snap election - called by the Prime Minister in a bid to boost her majority - while Labour spent £11m, according to figures from the Electoral Commission.
After a bitterly fought campaign the Tories lost 13 seats and were forced to cobble together a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP.
Labour meanwhile won an extra 30 seats in what was seen as an unexpected triumph for Jeremy Corbyn.
The new figures are further embarrassment for the Tories - who lacked the ground campaign and social media presence from passionate campaigners which boosted Labour.
Labour national campaign co-ordinator Ian Lavery told PoliticsHome: "The Conservatives ran a campaign in the interests of, and funded by, the privileged elite.
"In contrast Labour's hopeful, people-powered campaign showed that by coming together we can transform our society to work for the many not the few."
The Electoral Commission said there was a massive £41.5m spent during the election campaign by some 75 political parties and 18 other campaigning groups.
The figure is £2.5m more than was spent at the 2015 election.
The Liberal Democrats spent £6.8m and won an extra four seats, the Scottish National Party spent £1.6m and lost 21 seats and the Green Party spent almost £300,000 to keep its single seat in Brighton Pavilion.
Elsewhere, the Women’s Equality Party spent almost £285,000 and won just 3,500 votes across the country, while Ukip spent slightly less but got 600,000 votes.
Other figures released by the watchdog show pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaign group Momentum - which played a key role during the campaign - spent £39,000.
The Electoral Commission said it was investigating possible breaches of spending rules.
Political finance director Bob Posner added: “Our ongoing discussions with the major parties indicate to us that they may wish to consider the robustness of their internal governance and level of resourcing to ensure they can deliver what the law requires.”
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