Who gave Starmer £12.5m - and do they still think it was money well spent?
Almost 12 months on, Facts4EU.Org analyses campaign monies to all parties, showing Keir Starmer’s Labour trousered 63%
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025
Less than one-third of Labour's money came from the Unions - how times have changed
Elections can’t be won without money. This is a simple fact in the modern age. Rallies, campaign teams, advertising, videos, social media – all these things are expensive.
With the first anniversary of Labour's landslide victory now becoming a distant memory, the Facts4EU.Org think-tank has delved into the official records for political donations and public money in the month of the general election campaign, updating some work we did a year ago. The two stand-out aspects of this are the composition of Sir Keir Starner's donors, and the overall amount given to Labour in those frantic five weeks or so, compared to the other parties.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Monies received by the political parties
The period of the official general election campaign
- Labour & Co-Op Party : £12,680,449
- Conservative & Unionist Party (GB) : £2,130,350
- Liberal Democrats : £1,920,640
- Green Party (GB) : £1,775,155
- Reform UK : £1,663,360
- Conservative & Unionist Party (NI) : £80,884
- Climate Party : £25,000
- Workers Party of Britain : £12,000
- TOTAL : £20,287,838
[Source: Electoral Commission, amounts exceeding the £11,500 limit above which they must be declared.]
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2025 - click to enlarge
It used to be the case that big business gave huge sums to the Tories and the Unions gave to Labour
This is no longer true. Our analysis of payments to the Labour Party shows that Labour did not only trounce the Conservatives in the voting, they also trounced them in the monies they received in the critical weeks of the election campaign.
In addition to winning the funding battle for private donors, Labour also received many times more in public funding than the Conservatives.
So exactly who gave more than £12.5 million to the Labour Party?
Below we can reveal Labour’s top donors
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Those who powered Labour’s campaign and who really enabled Keir Starmer to motor into No.10 with ease - the Top 30
[Source: Official records of payments received by the Labour Party, 30 May – 05 July 2024, located and analysed by Facts4EU.Org.]
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2025 - click to enlarge
‘The times they are a’ changing’
The Conservatives used to be able to talk of Labour being beholden to its “trades union paymasters”. Our research suggests the Tories may need to alter this narrative.
The analysis we carried out above shows that of the £12.7m received in the weeks of the campaign by the Labour Party, (including payments to its associate the Co-Operative Party), £4.3m (33%) came from trades unions. 67% came in from private individuals, companies, or public funding.
By far the largest single donation was made by Lord Sainsbury. £2.5 million is a great deal of money to donate to a party that he will have known was already going to win, with or without his help. Amongst the unions, it was UNISON that was by far the largest donor./p>
Observations
When we started this research we expected the report would be about the money Tory donors wasted in backing Rishi Sunak. In fact Labour was able to outspend the Tories considerably, albeit based purely on funding that came in during the actual weeks of the campaign, whereas the Conservatives have traditionally tried to build a 'war-chest' well ahead of time.
Does Labour still ‘owe’ the unions? Yes, although it must be said that Sir Keir wasted no time in agreeing inflation-busting settlements when we was elected. That said, the amount of private money flooding into Labour surprised us. It far outweighs the amount that the unions donated.
Interestingly, his interests now seem to be more directed at continually giving away UK sovereignty at every opportunity, rather than focusing on issues at home. It is not known, of course, what the private donors think about these priorities.
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[ Sources: Electoral Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thurs 02 July 2025
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