Conservatives raise twice as much as Labour in first week of campaign

Howard Lake | 21 April 2005 | News

The Conservative Party has raised twice as much as the Labour Party in the first week of the general election campaign, according to figures from the Electoral Commission.

In the week of 5 – 11 April 2005 the Conservative Party raised £362,500 compared to the Labour Party’s £165,927. The Conservatives received 14 donations of over £5,000 in this period, compared to Labour’s
eight.

According to the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) all donations over £5,000 to main political party offices must be reported weekly to the Electoral Commission.

In the first week of the election campaign the Liberal Democrats raised £25,000, including two donations of over £5,000. They were followed by Respect – The Unity Coalition, which raised £20,000, including two £5,000+ donations), and the United Kingdom Independence Party which also raised £20,000, including one donation of over £5,000.

The Electoral Commission will be publishing five weekly reports on donations to the political parties until polling day.

It publicises details of who the larger donors are to each party. For example, Roger Nagioff, chief operating officer of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s European operations, doanted £10,000 to the Conservatives, and Philip Gwyn, chairman of Christie Group Plc, donated £50,000 to them.

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.