How do political parties get their funding? | Election 2024

Summary

The Electoral Commission’s figures for January to March showed that the Conservatives raised just over £8 million, Labour £6.6 million, the Liberal Democrats £1.5 million and the Greens just over a quarter of a million.

The report highlighted Conservative donor Frank Hester, whose company, the Phoenix Partnership, gave the party £5 million this year, making him its largest-ever donor. Hester faced criticism after reports surfaced of remarks he made about then-Labour MP Diane Abbott in 2019, including saying she “should be shot.” He denied that the comments were related to her race or gender.

Rishi Sunak called the remarks wrong and racist, and said Hester had apologised. However, on the same day Sunak gave that interview, the Conservatives accepted a further £1,000 from Hester’s company. Labour said this showed Sunak lacked integrity.

Labour’s major donors included unions, a hedge fund manager and Ecotricity, the energy company run by Dale Vince, whom the report described as a founding funder of Just Stop Oil. The Conservatives called on Labour to return Vince’s money.

The report also noted Labour Together, a think tank that funded staff seconded to the shadow cabinet. Its head had recently been selected as Labour’s candidate for the Makerfield seat, a decision that irritated some on the party’s left.

The report argued that tracing political money is especially important during an election campaign.

Presenters and contributors

• Presenter: Sam Coates, Sky News deputy political editor
• Contributor quoted: Rishi Sunak, then prime minister