Following that last post we brought you – here’s a bit more on the donations that’ve been made to the Conservative Party by Frank Hester.
Hester’s company was the source of more than half of all donations declared by the Conservatives in the first few months of 2024.
Electoral Commission data shows the party received just under £9m from 189 sources, excluding public funds. Just over £5m of that was from Hester’s company, the Phoenix Partnership. Hester and his company also donated more than £10m declared in 2023.
Total donations received by the Tories and declared in the first quarter of 2024 were 26% down on the same period in 2023.
Labour, meanwhile, has seen donations rise 67% (almost £3m more) in January to March 2024 compared with the same three months of 2023. Donations to the Lib Dems are up by 83% (over £1m more) and donations to the Greens have doubled (rising by £181,000).
Reform UK has declared £25,000 in donations but its former leader Richard Tice has previously loaned the party money, details of which are recorded separately from donations by the Electoral Commission.
Labour’s biggest donor, electicity company Ecotricity, provided 22% of all donations the party registered in the first quarter of 2024. Ecotricity was founded by Dale Vince, who has also given money to Just Stop Oil.
The largest sum donated to Labour by a union was £381,837 from Unite, but this was Labour’s fourth biggest source of donations in that three-month period.