Strong Support For Bringing In A Cap On Political Donations, New Polling Shows
3 min read
A clear majority of the public backs a cap on donations to political parties, new polling shared with PoliticsHome has found.
A Survation poll for campaign group 38 Degrees found that well over half of people (57 per cent) support the introduction of a cap on the amount of money individuals or companies can donate to parties, while just seven per cent were against it.
The survey, which interviewed 1,008 people online between December 9 and 11, showed support for capping donations across all groups.
It comes after Nigel Farage's Reform UK recently received the largest ever single donation by an individual to a British political party.
Earlier this month, cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne donated £9m to the right-wing party. Harborne, a British businessman who lives in Thailand, had previously donated to the Conservatives and Farage's former political project, The Brexit Party.
Nearly half of people who voted Reform at the 2024 general election (45 per cent) supported the introduction of a cap on donations to political parties, according to the Survation poll, while 10 per cent opposed it.
Matthew McGregor, CEO at 38 Degrees, told PoliticsHome: “From the results of this polling to the numbers of people backing our petition, the public is sending a clear message to Westminster: our democracy should not be for sale. It must work for everyone, not just the highest bidder.
He added: “It is time for the government to listen, act, and get big money out of politics for good.”
Responding to the findings, Darren Hughes, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said that uncapped donations risk a "corrosive effect on public trust in politics" at a time when it is already at "record lows".
He told PoliticsHome: “This government urgently needs to bring in a cap to ensure our politics is not unduly influenced by a small number of ultra-rich donors.
“It also needs to significantly strengthen and modernise transparency rules, as well as close down loopholes, so the public always knows exactly who is giving money to political parties.”
In 2026, the Labour government is preparing to bring forward an elections bill, which is set to include a number of steps to make the UK electoral system more transparent.
However, a government spokesperson told PoliticsHome there are no plans to introduce a cap on donations.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Our elections bill will strengthen UK democracy by protecting against foreign interference, improving transparency, adding tougher donation checks and closing loopholes, while an independent review will look at the safeguards to protect our democracy from illicit money from abroad.
“Political parties play a vital role in our democracy, and it is important that they are able to fundraise effectively and communicate with the electorate, which is why we have no plans to introduce a donations cap.”
