Capital Economy, Business and Finance
The Conservative party accepted £15 million in donations in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest Electoral Commission figures, nearly fivefold the £3.3 million total for Labour. £10 million was donated posthumously from the late John Sainsbury, who died last year. He’s now the largest single private donor to British political parties since 2001 – in second place is his cousin, Lord David Sainsbury, who has previously donated £5 million and £3 million to Labour and the Lib Dems. It means the biggest private donors to the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties are all men called Lord Sainsbury from the same supermarket dynasty. Even without the £10 million, the Conservatives raised more than Labour as they seek to build their election war chest. Mega-donors like business magnate Graham Edwards, who donated £2 million this quarter, have helped keep party finances afloat despite expectations of a Labour victory. Starmer’s Labour has been courting private donors as well, but union contributions still made up over 40 per cent of external funding.
