World
Mega-donations from billionaires gain weight in UK party funding
Research by IPPR and analysis by The Guardian point to a sharp rise since 2019 in the role of wealthy individual donors in British politics. The findings have renewed calls for an annual cap on contributions.
British party funding has become increasingly reliant on very wealthy individuals, according to IPPR research reported by The Guardian. The study said rich individual donors have given a total of £179m to UK political parties since 2019.
The figures show a strong increase in donations above £1m over the past two parliaments. Between 2001, when donation records began, and 2018, the average yearly total from individuals giving more than £1m was £3.9m. From 2019 to 2025, that annual figure rose to £13.1m.
The research also found that 72% of all individual donations above £1m recorded since the start of the system have come since 2019. In addition, The Guardian said its own analysis found that in some years, including 2023, nearly £7 in every £10 reported in private party donations came from wealthy companies or individuals that gave more than £1m in a single calendar year.
According to IPPR, the acceleration in this type of funding followed donations such as the £10m given to the Brexit party by Thailand-based billionaire Christopher Harborne and the £8m given to the Liberal Democrats by David Sainsbury. The dataset also includes two record £36m donations to Reform UK from Harborne and Ben Delo.
The trend has intensified concerns about the influence of a small number of extremely wealthy donors. Reform UK has argued that it is trying to rebalance a system in which other parties had already received millions in mega-donations in previous years. Other major recent donors include Frank Hester, who gave more than £20m to the Conservatives before the 2024 election, and Gary Lubner, who has given Labour more than £9m in total.
The Guardian reported that some Labour MPs are pushing for an annual cap of either £100,000 or £500,000, and the issue may be raised at the party’s autumn conference and later in the House of Lords when the government’s elections bill moves forward. Downing Street has been reluctant to back a cap, partly because some trade unions fear future restrictions on their own donations, although the government has pledged to address the outsized role of mega-donors and has already introduced a £100,000 yearly limit for donations from overseas voters.
IPPR executive director Harry Quilter-Pinner said million-pound donations were once unusual but have become a much bigger part of the political system since 2019. Civil society groups also called for action. The Guardian reported that Spotlight on Corruption and Transparency International UK urged the government to move quickly and impose an annual cap to curb the influence of big money in politics.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
