Labour Party nets record £13m in individual donations

The Labour Party received £13m - its highest ever donation amount - from wealthy individuals and companies last year.

A trio of donors helped boost Sir Keir Starmer's party coffers to just over £31m, according to the Electoral Commission's latest records.

Labour Party chair Annelise Dodds said the party had achieved its "best fundraising year ever".

The Conservatives' fundraising outpaced Labour's by about £17m.

Three main individuals donated more than £8.5m to Labour in 2023, taking personal donations to a 19-year high.

The biggest donations came from Gary Lubner, a South African who made his fortune through vehicle window repair, and gave the highest amount of any single donor at £4,527,500.

Supermarket tycoon Lord Sainsbury of Turville donated £3,070,000, and his daughter Francesca Perrin became the highest-donating woman the party has ever had, giving £1,060,000.

Individual donations in 2023 were more than double the year before and £5m higher than in 2019, the year of the last general election, when Jeremy Corbyn led the party.

Ecotricity founder Dale Vince has pledged to give generously to Labour ahead of the next general election

This year Labour also received more than £1m from Ecotricity, the renewable energy company owned by multimillionaire Dale Vince.

The party's 2023 total is £13m higher than in 2022 and £6m higher than 2019, which Ms Dodds credited to the party leadership. "Thanks to Keir Starmer's leadership last year was our best fundraising year ever," she said. "Labour will turn the page on 14 years of Tory failure with a plan to deliver the change Britain deserves."

However, the party still lags £17m behind the Conservatives 2023 total of £48m.

There are seven wealthy donors who have each given the Tories more than £1m towards its total individual donations of nearly £36m last year.

Election limit

The biggest personal donation came from a bequest from Lord John Sainsbury, who left more than £10.2m to the Conservatives after his death.

That was followed by former Egyptian government minister Mohamed Mansour and healthcare entrepreneur Francis Hester, who each gave £5m, and property magnate Graham Edwards' donation of more than £4m.

They were followed by clothing businessman Amit Lohia with £2m, Professor Christopher Wood with £1.2m and investment management executive Alan Eldad Howard with £1m.

The biggest company donor was the Phoenix Partnership (Leeds) Ltd, whose chief executive is Francis Hester, donating about £5.2m.

The company supplies computer systems to the NHS, including software for GP surgeries and for electronic patient records.

In 2023, the Conservatives raised the election spending limit from £19m to £34m, and the BBC understands Labour will continue to fundraise towards that.

The Conservatives have been contacted for comment.

The Liberal Democrats declared around £8m in donations and Reform UK £255,000 last year.

In total, political parties reported more than £93m, compared with £52m in 2022, to the Electoral Commission.