Westminster Accounts: 14 MPs given over £250,000 each in campaign donations since the last election
Fourteen MPs have been given more than £250,000 each towards their campaigns and causes, analysis for the Westminster Accounts has revealed.
The senior politicians – from Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – were all given between £258,000 and £752,800 from various companies and individuals during this parliament, which started in December 2019.
In a tumultuous few years for British political parties, most of the top 20 MPs to receive donations ran for their party’s leadership campaigns, including Sir Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss – the three highest recipients.
Search for your MP using the Westminster Accounts tool
All the information on donations is available through parliament’s register of interests, but Sky News and Tortoise Media have collated all the figures for the first time in one database, with total sums and details of which MPs are receiving how much money and from whom.
Sir Keir Starmer is top of the leaderboard for campaign donations, with £752,809 given to him by 67 companies and individuals.
His biggest equal donor is north London barrister Robert Latham, who gave his leadership campaign £100,000 to pull Labour “back from the brink” after the Corbyn years.
Media entrepreneur and Blairite Lord Waheed Alli also gave him £100,000 for his campaign.
In November, it was revealed Lord Alli will head up Labour’s fundraising efforts for the next election.
Rishi Sunak comes in behind Sir Keir with £546,043 in donations for his leadership campaign this summer, when he lost to Liz Truss before becoming prime minister when she stepped down.
His largest donor is Northern Ireland industrialist Chris Rea, who gave Mr Sunak’s campaign £100,000 after saying he was “horrified at the prospect of Liz Truss actually implementing her promises as I am numerate and it was clear to me that it would be bad for the UK”.
Rishi Sunak was handed substantial amounts for his leadership campaign. He lost to Liz Truss who later stepped down and he became PM
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Donations for MPs not running for leader
Sky News has estimated it takes at least £250,000 to run a leadership campaign, which is reflected in the amounts and reasons given to those who ran.
Out of the top 10 highest donor recipients, seven ran for leader or deputy leader of their party.
But Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, and senior Tories Michael Gove and Brandon Lewis, all had more than £250,000 donated to them despite not running for leader.
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Their donations are mainly to support their work and pay for staff.
Ms Reeves has received donations of £441,101 from a variety of individuals, including former Lloyds Bank chairman Sir Victor Blank and Lord Sainsbury, to pay for her staff, while others donated substantial sums so she could pay for research.
Levelling Up Secretary Mr Gove had £336,983 donated to him, including £100,000 from British-German property magnate Zachariasz Gertler and £20,000 from northeast property tycoon Alan Massie, both who have been long-time supporters of Mr Gove’s.
Donor company set up by MP
Brandon Lewis, Northern Ireland Secretary under Boris Johnson and Conservative Party chairman before that, received £266,334.
That includes £40,500 from Norwich-based construction company Bateman Groundworks, whose founder Richard Bateman describes himself as a “disillusioned Tory”.
The former housing minister was also given £28,500 from developers Countrywide Developments and £25,000 by Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a former Putin minister who is a British citizen.
Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron is 11th on the list, with £259,997 in donations but what is unusual is his highest donor – who gave £154,072 for staff and office support.
Faith in Public Ltd was set up by evangelical Christian Mr Farron himself to, he says, fund support for his faith work, including work in parliament on homelessness and refugees, “Christian outreach” and “making the case for faith in the public square”.
Tim Farron was Lib Dem leader from 2015 to 2017 but remains as an MP
The MP told Sky News the money from Faith in Public comes mainly from donations from two charitable trusts and two individuals.
Another notable name on the leaderboard is Jeremy Corbyn, who comes in at 18th with £210,616 in donations despite not running for leadership after stepping down in 2020 after five years as Labour leader.
His biggest donor, with £191,100, is JBC Defence which stands for Jeremy Bernard Corbyn Defence. It was set up and is funded by his supporters to pay for lawyers fighting libel action brought against Mr Corbyn.
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
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Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
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