Donors give £4.7m to Labour in last three months

Labour received £4.7 million in donations between July and September, more than any other party, according to official figures.

The sum received by Labour, emphasising the transformative change in the party’s appeal since the collapse of Corbynism, is significantly greater than that donated to the Conservatives, which, according to Electoral Commission data, received £2.9 million over the same period.

The Liberal Democrats recorded around £1.7 million, according to returns submitted to the Electoral Commission, with more than £11 million in total donated to 19 separate UK political parties.

The figures come as Labour confidence grows ahead of the next general election, with Sir Keir Starmer’s party fresh from a resounding victory in the Chester by-election last week and polling strongly ahead of the Tories.

A Labour party spokesperson said: “Donors are coming back to Labour because they can see we are a changed party that is serious about getting into government and building a fairer, greener, more dynamic Britain.

“We are very grateful for all support, large or small, as we gear up to fight the next general election.”

The party is understood to be expecting to record even higher donation figures in the next quarter.

Labour got around £1.6 million from trade unions.

The party has also had success in recent months in wooing wealthy donors.

Multimillionaire tycoon Gareth Quarry, who earlier this year revealed he had decided to switch from backing the Tories to supporting Labour, is recorded as giving £50,000 to the party.

The Scottish National Party (SNP), led by Nicola Sturgeon, received £396,000 from July to September.

Louise Edwards, the Electoral Commission’s director of regulation, said: “Parties are legally required to check the donations they accept are from permissible sources and to report these to us.

“While these laws help voters to understand where political donations come from, reforms are needed to modernise and further safeguard the system.

“We have recommended for some time that the UK Government and Parliament work with us to improve donation controls and increase confidence in the UK’s political finance regime.”