Conservatives rake in the money
By Sasjkia Otto
The Conservatives have received more money during the election campaign than all other parties put together.
Figures released by the Electoral Commission show the Tories have been given £3,677,000 in the first two weeks since 6th April.
This is 26 times more than the £140,000 received by the Liberal Democrats and 62% up on Labour’s donations of £2,273,000.
Donations of more than £7,500 must be reported individually; 80 people have made a gift exceeding that to the Tories, 21 to Labour and five to the Lib Dems.
The Liberal Democrats received £120,000 in the second week of the election period – six times more than the £20,000 donated in the first week, perhaps an effect of the first leaders’ debate
Donation amounts to Labour nearly doubled in the second week from £783,159 to £1,490,000 while the Conservatives saw a 52% increase from £1,455,812 to £2,221,341.
The Buckinghamshire Campaign for Democracy reported the same amount of donations in the second week than the Liberal Democrats did in the first week with £20,000 from two donors.
According to its website, the campaign was set up to “protest at the fact that by becoming Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow has left his constituents without a full-time Conservative MP to represent their interests”.
The Scottish National Party received £10,000 in the second week of the campaign.
