Party Funding A Level Politics

Key principles of Left-Wing Parties

• Despite change, reform and alteration to the way society operates

  • Favour big change gov and large welfare state

  • High taxes, high public spending

• Includes Socialists who are critical of capitalism and free market economies

• Have tended to be on the ‘right side’ of social issues

Key principles of Right-Wing Parties

• Supporting the conservation of the status quo and little or no change

• Stressing the importance of order stability, hierarchy and private property

• Favour small gov, individualism, and self determination

  • Lower taxes, lower public spending

Why do political parties need funding?

• Fighting elections (including money spent on advertising/campaigning)

• Holding party conferences

• Carrying out research and developing policies & manifestos

• Employing special advisers and full time members of staff

Minority Parties

• Minor parties usually stand in elections but rarely win seats. They may still influence government through coalitions or confidence-and-supply deals.

  They include:

  • Nationalist parties (e.g. SNP, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Féin), which seek independence or greater self-rule for a region.

  • Single-issue parties (e.g. Green Party, UKIP, Brexit Party), which focus on one main cause.

  They are similar to pressure groups but use elections to promote their aims.

Mainstream/Major Political Parties

• Parties that contest elections in most or all constituencies, have policies across all areas, and aim to form government.

  • Conservative & Labour

• Lib Dems are sometimes also seen as a major party, but recent low election support means they can also be described as a minor party.

Labour Membership Subscriptions - How Parties are Currently Funded

• Pay £6.14 per month and currently 250,000 members (down from 530,000 members in 2019)

  • In 2024, Labour received £18m in membership fees

Conservative Membership Subscriptions - How Parties are Currently Funded

• Pay £4 per month, currently 123,000 members

Liberal Democrat Membership Subscriptions - How Parties are Currently Funded

• Pay £1.25 per month

• Currently 60,000 members

Reform UK Membership Subscriptions - How Parties are Currently Funded

• Pay £2 per month

• Currently 268,000 members

Green Party Membership Subscriptions - How Parties are Currently Funded

• Pay £6 a month

• Currently 220,000 members

Reform UK Membership Subscriptions - How Parties are Currently Funded

• Members pay £2 a month

• 268,000 members

SNP Membership Subscriptions - How Parties are Currently Funded

• Pay £1 a month

• £56,011 members

Trade Unions

• Funded partly by trade unions (UNISON, UNITE, GMB)

• 2021: £5.8m from unions (~13% of Labour income)

• Unions regularly donate to Labour

• 2016 Trade Union Act: members must opt in to political contributions (reduced funding)

Local Constituency Fundraising

• Political parties also receive a small amount of funding from local constituency fundraising through events such as raffles and dinners. This funding is then often spent on local campaigns

  • In 2021, Labour received £200,000 from fundraising

Short Money

• Forms vast majority of public funding in order to support their activities - mostly available to the opposition as lack support of civil service

• Short money = intended to support parties to carry out parliamentary business, including policy research. Primarily used to cover salaries of researchers and advisers in central offices of parties

  • Only available to opposition parties that have won either two seats in HOC at previous general election, or one seat and more than 150,000 votes in total from all seats contested

• Cranbourne money = supports opposition in HOL as well as funding for the Office of the leader of the opposition and Policy Development Grants

• In 2021, Labour received £6.9m from public funding, around 15.5% of total income (75% was short money)

Labour - Donations

• Funded by businesses, organisations, and wealthy individuals

• No legal limit on political donations

• Labour now receives more business/individual funding (since New Labour)

• Lord Sainsbury: major donor under Blair/Brown/Miliband

  • Stopped under Corbyn → gave £8m to Lib Dems (2019)

  • Donated £2m to Labour (2023) under Starmer

Conservatives - Donations

• Conservatives funded mainly by businesses & wealthy individuals

• Lord Cruddas: major million-pound donor

• 2019 (Johnson): ~£56m donations due to popularity

• Compared to 2017 (May): ~£34m

How much did Labour receive in 2025 from DONATIONS?

£9.2 million

How much did Conservatives receive in 2025 from DONATIONS?

£14.3m

How much did Reform UK receive in 2025 from DONATIONS?

£18.6m

The 2000 Political Parties, Election and Referendums Act (PPERA)

• Aimed to make party funding more democratic/transparent (Blair)

• Created Electoral Commission to oversee campaign spending

• Banned foreign donations (must be on UK electoral roll)

• Parties must ensure donations are from permissible sources & report them

• Loans treated same as donations (pre-2010 change)

• Reporting rules:

  • £7,500+ to central party → report to Electoral Commission

  • £1,500+ (local/sections) → report

  • MPs: £500+ → report to Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

Concerns over Party Funding in the UK

• Concern: rich donors can buy influence → undemocratic

• Funding scandals across multiple parties

• Parties rely heavily on wealthy individuals & businesses

Cash for Peerages

• 2006–07 “cash for honours” scandal (Labour)

• Donors who gave large loans linked to life peerage nominations (HoL) by Blair

• HoL Appointments Commission rejected nominations

• Suspected peerages for loans, but not proven

Bernie Ecclestone

• 1997 “cash for access” controversy (Labour)

• Bernie Ecclestone donated £1m to Labour shortly after Blair became PM

• Alleged link to delay of tobacco advertising ban in F1

• Blair denied any connection on TV

• Donation was later returned

Michael Brown and the Lib Dems

• 2005: Michael Brown donated £2.4m to the Lib Dems

• 2006: Brown jailed for perjury

• Pressure on Lib Dems to return donation

• Party kept funds after Electoral Commission said it was legally accepted

Lord Cruddas

• Lord Cruddas (Conservative donor)

• Made a peer in the House of Lords (Feb 2021)

• Had just donated £500,000 (his largest donation)

• Appointment came despite failed vetting by the Appointments Commission

• PM Boris Johnson overruled the decision

PPE Contracts

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, PPE firm Medpro linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone received over £200m in government contracts

• Much of the PPE supplied was later found to be unusable by the NHS

• The company still made large profits

• Around tens of millions were allegedly moved to an offshore trust benefiting Mone and her family

Russian Influence in Conservative Party

• Under Boris Johnson’s government, over £2m in Conservative donations were linked to Russia, raising security concerns

• Included Evgeny Lebedev, who was controversially made a peer

• The Russia Report found evidence of Russian attempts to interfere in the Brexit referendum

• Gov did not implement any of the 21 recommendations from the report

Peter Mandelson Scandal

• Former Labour minister and UK ambassador to the US

• Linked to Epstein emails and alleged misuse of confidential info

• Triggered:

  • Fraud investigation by EU authorities

  • Arrest by UK police (misconduct in public office investifation)

• Impact:

  • Serious questions about vetting of senior appointments

  • Damage to Labour’s claim of “clean gov”

  • Pressure on PM Starmer’s leadership

Labour & Lib Dem proposals to limit donations from individuals

• 2015 election: Labour and Lib Dems supported limits on individual political donations

• Proposal aimed to reduce large private funding of parties

• Would have most affected the Conservative Party, which relies heavily on wealthy donors

• Seen as partly politically motivated as well as a reform measure

How would state funding of political parties work?

• Many democracies in the West have state funded political parties

  • Australia, state funding supports parties’ electoral campaigning, whilst in the Netherlands it is intended to further research

• Whilst in UK does have some state funding, majority of funds come from donations and membership fees, and it could move to a largely state funded approach

• This approach could include state funding based on the number of votes in the previous election, or match donations from members of the public, which is the case in Germany

Arguments FOR state funding of political parties

• Parties are essential to representative democracy, so need secure funding

• State funding would reduce reliance on unions, businesses, and wealthy donors with vested interests

• Would create a more level playing field, helping smaller parties and improving pluralist democracy

• Could include matching small donations, increasing public participation

• Would let parties focus more on governing rather than fundraising

• Would stop parties in power from changing funding rules for advantage (e.g. 2016 Trade Union Act)

• Would reduce risk of corruption and undue influence from big donors, strengthening democracy

Arguments AGAINST state finding of political parties

• Limited public funding helps keep parties independent from the state/government, which supports democracy

• State funding could distance parties from voters and members, weakening public influence

• It would be very costly for taxpayers, and many may oppose funding parties they don’t support

• Could reduce trust, as people may not want to fund political opponents

• If linked to election results, it may entrench major parties and limit pluralism rather than improve it

What was the Grant income for the Labour Party in 2024?

£4.1 million

What was the Fundraising income for the Labour Party in 2024?

£2.2 million

What was the Commercial Activities income for the Labour Party in 2024?

£13.5 million

What was the Donations income for the Labour Party in 2024?

£40.3 million

What was the Miscellaneous income for the Labour Party in 2024?

£7.2 million

What was the Membership income for the Labour Party in 2024?

£18.3 million