The Brexit Party has received more than £1m in donations as political parties reported a rise in cash gifts ahead of a possible general election.
Nigel Farage’s new outfit accepted £1,039,000 in its first three months, including nearly £250,000 from financier Jeremy Hosking, and £200,000 from Christopher Harborne – both formerly Conservative donors.
As all parties ready themselves for the prospect of a snap election, new figures from the Electoral Commission revealed a surge in campaign funding in the second quarter of 2019.
Some £15m was donated to all 16 political parties between April and June – more than double the amount received in the first three months of the year.
The Conservatives received the highest number of donations with £5.4m declared during the three-month period, including £67,000 of public funds.
Tory coffers appear to have been boosted by Theresa May’s resignation in May, triggering a leadership contest dominated by Boris Johnson and his pledge to deliver Brexit by 31 October, with or without a deal.
The biggest donor was party treasurer Ehud Sheleg, who gave the Tories £1m, while construction firm JCB - whose chairman Anthony Bamford backed Mr Johnson’s bid – gave £250,000 to the cause.
The Tories also accepted £235,000 from Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a former ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has previously donated cash to the party to play tennis with Mr Johnson.
Labour declared £5m during the same period but more than half of the sum was made up of public funds (£2.9m) – rather than donations from individuals.
It’s biggest donors were the trade unions, including some £488,000 from Unite.
The Liberal Democrats received £1.8m, while the SNP accepted £493,000, and the Greens took £174,000 in donations.
The Independent Group for Change reported £263,000 after being launched in February by Tory and Labour defectors.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein received a bequest of £1.5m in what is believed to be the largest donation ever given to a Northern Ireland political party.
The party said the financial gift was a “positive boost” to its work “towards Irish unity and towards our political objectives”.
Louise Edwards, director of regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: “Publishing data about party donations and loans on our online database means voters can clearly see where political parties receive their funds from.
“This leads to a more trusted and transparent political finance system and helps ensure compliance.
“Where parties fail to deliver their return on time, and there is no reasonable explanation for such a failure, we will take a robust approach in dealing with this in line with our enforcement policy.”
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