Tory donors go on strike… Maybe Sunak should reach into his own pocket? | Politics News

Normally the Tories are at the top of the party donations charts. Not this time. Donations between June 6 and 12 show the Conservatives in fourth place. That is relegation form.

“Follow the money,” they say.

But money is not following the Conservative Party in this election campaign. Tory donors are on strike.

The Conservatives are not only financially massively inferior to Labourbut also from Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats, as new figures show.

Current elections: More bad news for Tory campaign

The collapse in donations compared to the millions that flowed into the Tories’ coffers during Boris Johnson’s 2019 election campaignindicates a massive disillusionment in Rishi Sunak among Tory tycoons and millionaires.

Why throw good money after bad? That is a question that conservative‘, former major donors are probably asking themselves, given that Sunak’s campaign seems to be sliding from one crisis to the next.

And the party’s poor results in opinion polls, along with mistakes like that of the Prime Minister D-Day fiasco and now a Scandal involving insiders accused of betting on election day indicate that the funding gap will worsen even further.

The latest figures from the Electoral Commission, generally a fairly toothless regulator, are the first since Sunak’s disastrous rebuff to D-Day veterans. They also confirm that Nigel Farage’s comeback has bolstered Reform UK’s finances.

The numbers are shocking

Normally the Tories are at the top of the party donations charts. Not this time. Donations between June 6 and 12 show the Conservatives in fourth place. That is relegation form.

In this week Work raised a staggering £4,383,400, thanks largely to a £2.5 million cheque from Lord Sainsbury, the supermarket dynasty. That means £5.3 million in donations were received in the first two weeks of the campaign.

Lord Sainsbury, a big Blairite, is a long-time donor who stopped giving when Jeremy Corbyn was party leader. But now he’s back. And back for good. Labour’s other big donor, Autoglass windscreen tycoon Gary Lubner, gave £900,000.

Normally, election time is when the general secretaries of the major unions pull out their chequebooks and hand over six- or seven-figure sums. But between 6 and 12 June there was only one union donation, from the train drivers’ union Aslef, of £100,000.

It means Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party now relies more on millionaires than union barons for its campaign fund. The Labour leader says the party has changed. Well, that is certainly a very significant change.

Read more:
Farage: The West ‘provoked’ Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Analysis: Sunak misjudged the audience on an important issue

But at what price? Do the millionaire donors buy influence over the Labour Party’s tax policy: capital gains tax, wealth tax and so on? And what will the tycoons’ millions mean for Angela Rayner’s Proposals on workers’ rights?

Meanwhile, the Conservatives’ campaign coffers are almost empty and their financial situation is as dire as their poll ratings: just £292,500 from 6 to 12 June and only £882,000 in donations in the first two weeks of the campaign.

The resurgent Reform UK party raised £742,000 in donations, largely through two donations of £250,000 each from a company called Britain Means Business, which happens to be run by former party leader Richard Tice.

Although Mr Tice was pushed aside by Mr Farage, who replaced him as leader, he still personally funds the party. The party claims to have received £1.5 million since Mr Farage’s comeback.

Reform UK also benefitted from a showbiz donation from celebrity supporter Holly Vukadinovic – pop star and former Neighbours actress Holly Valance – who had a hit with “Kiss Kiss” and donated $50,000.

Even the Liberal Democrats received more than the Conservatives, with £335,000, including £100,000 from the will of the late party donor and former lawyer John Faulkner, which is likely to fund even more of Sir Ed Davey’s silly stunts.

👉 Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts 👈

But faced with a donor strike, Sunak may need to turn to his wife, Akshata Murty, who is also a millionaire. Together they are worth £651 million, more than the king, according to the Sunday Times richest list.

Or maybe not. What was that about “throwing good money after bad”?