Sunday, September 20, 2026
Show us the money - should politics be funded by billionaires?
The paper says that research has found that a total of £179m has been donated by wealthy individuals since 2019:
The figures from the IPPR thinktank show how big money is playing an ever more influential role in Westminster, with a particular rise in mega-donations of more than £1m.
The research found that contributions from individual donors have accelerated since the Brexit party received £10m from the Thailand-based billionaire Christopher Harborne and the Liberal Democrats were given £8m by David Sainsbury, the supermarket tycoon, who has now returned to Labour.
Between 2001, when donation records began, and 2018, the total donated by individuals giving more than £1m averaged £3.9m a year.
But between 2019 and 2025, that figure rose to £13.1m a year, almost three-and-a-half times as much, and far outstripping what would be expected with inflation.
The research found 72% of all £1m-plus donations from individuals since records began had come since 2019.
Guardian analysis found that in some years, such as 2023, almost £7 out of every £10 in reported private donations to political parties came from wealthy companies or individuals who gave more than £1m in a calendar year.
The figures are likely to raise fresh concerns about the influence of a small groups of wealthy individuals, which have already been heightened since two crypto billionaires, Harborne and Ben Delo, said they had each given £36m to Reform UK this month.
Reform UK has said it is trying to redress the balance as the other parties have taken millions in mega-donations in past years. The Conservatives’ biggest donors include Frank Hester, who gave more than £20m before the 2024 election, and Labour’s Gary Lubner, who has given more than £9m in total.
It is little wonder that there is increasing concern among Reform UK’s rivals about the issue of donations of more than £1m, with some Labour MPs pushing for a cap of £100,000 or £500,000 a year. However, it is not just the overseas donations that need to be targeted, though they are the immediate concern.
It is simply unhealthy for politics to be funded by a few rich individuals, with all the suspicions of undue influence associated with that. There needs to be a domestic cap as well.
