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Tue, 19 March 2024

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£1m gift in will helps Tories outstrip all parties combined in post-election donations

Emilio Casalicchio

2 min read

The Conservatives raked in more cash in the three months after the general election than all the other parties put together after a generous gift left in the will of a supporter.


Patrick H Gregory left £1m to the Tories in a dying wish and the cash came through shortly after Theresa May lost her Commons majority in a humiliating election performance.

In total, the party added £3.7m to its war chest between 1 July and the end of September compared with just over £2m for all the other parties combined.

Labour received £1.7m - mainly from trade unions - while the Lib Dems took £600,000, the SNP £44,000, Ukip £36,000, and the Co-operative party £30,000.

But the data published by the Electoral Commission only reveal donations of £7,500 or more.

Labour is thought to rake in large sums in small donations from supporters. It raised some £5m that way in the days leading up to the general election in June.

Pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaign group Momentum also deals mainly in smaller donations - raking in some £580,000 a year in membership fees plus more in extra one-off sums.

A spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “Momentum don't have any big donors, and the vast majority of our funding comes from small donations and membership fees.”

In the wake of the general election, a Labour spokesperson said: "Labour supporters donated over £5m to fund our campaign with an average donation of £20, arranged thousands of events across the country and tens of thousands volunteered.

"While the Conservatives ran a campaign in the interests of, and paid for by, billionaires and bankers, Labour's people-powered campaign showed that by coming together the British people can transform our country for the many not the few."

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