Labour Donations Almost Double the Tories in First Pre-Vote Data

(Bloomberg) -- Keir Starmer’s poll-leading Labour Party received almost double the amount of political donations than Rishi Sunak’s governing Conservatives in the first official week of UK election campaigning.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Southwest Plane Plunged Within 400 Feet of Ocean Near Hawaii

• Flesh-Eating Bacteria That Can Kill in Two Days Spreads in Japan

• Yes, Everyone Really Is Sick a Lot More Often After Covid

• Danes Asked to Keep Supplies, Iodine Pills to Prepare for Crises

• Meloni Uses the G-7 to Put Focus on the Global South — And Herself

Excluding public funds, Labour pulled in just over £926,000 ($1.2 million) in the week to June 5, compared with just under £575,000 for the Conservatives. Reform UK received £140,000, all of which came after leader Nigel Farage announced he would stand as a candidate in the July 4 vote.

The Conservative Party has slumped in the polls, with one survey showing it has been overtaken by Reform. With just under three weeks to go until election day, Labour retains a lead of about 20 points and is widely expected to form the next government with a significant parliamentary majority.

Labour’s biggest donation was £500,000 from British filmmaker Duncan Kenworthy’s company Toledo Productions Ltd. Three donors — from HR Smith Group, Fitriani Hay, and Peter Hall — accounted for all of Reform UK’s total.

Meanwhile Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats received almost £455,000, plus another £108,000 in public funds. Including public funds, the Labour total was just under £1.6 million.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Grieving Families Blame Panera’s Charged Lemonade for Leaving a Deadly Legacy

• The Rise and Fall of a $600 Million Strip-Mall Tycoon

• Israeli Scientists Are Shunned by Universities Over the Gaza War

• How to Cool Down Parks in Hot Cities

• This Time, Higher Rates Are Boosting Spending and the Economy

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.