Conservative donors pour £10m into election fighting fund to double Labour’s sum

THERESA MAY’S Conservative Party built a financial war chest double that of Labour in the first months of this year, political donation figures show.

Despite a £300,000 donation from former Formula One racing boss Max Mosley, Labour has struggled to keep pace, according to numbers published by the Electoral Commission.

Mrs May has accumulated almost £10 million since January compared with Jeremy Corbyn’s £5.3million.

The Prime Minister’s own constituency association recorded £25,000 in donations, the figures show.

In total, political parties received more than £16million in the first part of the year, including money given after the General Election was announced.

The contribution from Mr Mosley, who has used family money to fund press regulator Impress, makes him the biggest individual donor to Labour, after the millions donated by trade unions.

Comedian Eddie Izzard also donated £10,000 to Labour.

Ukip’s donations hit just £246,910 in the first months of the year in addition to the £48,000 the party raised in the early part of the election campaign. Claims that Ukip is struggling to raise enough money to keep going and maintain loan repayments have been denied by leader Paul Nuttall.

New data released yesterday show that in addition to the £4million the Conservatives were handed by supporters in the early part of the election campaign, £5.46 million came from donors between January and March, with the mining millionaire Michael Davis providing the biggest gift at £317,000.

Unions helped Labour to raise £2.64 million, with Unite donating £657,702 and Unison £376,242. This is in addition to the £2.68 million it raised in the election campaign.

The Liberal Democrats received £603,155 in the first three months of the year.