The latest Electoral Commission figures are out for party donations and prove that the Tories will have much greater fire-power in the coming general election.
The Conservatives raised £10.5m in the three months to the end of December. Labour attracted just £5m. The Lib Dems were left trailing with barely more than £1m.
Labour are hoping to use this to their advantage by depicting themselves as the underdogs, as David Blunkett told the FT on Monday; a hard act to pull off after 13 years in power.
Will let you know later if more juicy facts emerge from the more detailed numbers.
(UPDATE: One interesting fact to emerge today is that Andrew Charalambous, the Tory candidate standing in Edmonton, gave £142,319 to his own campaign for advertising, printing and other campaigning…….)
Here is the list of all donors giving more than £200,000. Sorry for the glitch on Sir Nigel Doughty (top right) – he is the biggest giver of all in the period.
| Donor name | Total Amount (£) | Recipient |
| Sir Nigel Doughty | 1,010,000 | Labour Party |
| Lord David Sainsbury | 1,000,000 | Labour Party |
| David Rowland | 738,000 | Conservative Party |
| Unite – AMICUS Section | 540,039 | Labour Party |
| Stanley Fink | 501,640 | Conservative Party |
| Lord John Sainsbury of Preston Candover |
500,000 | Conservative Party |
| UNISON | 402,414 | Labour Party |
| Joseph Bamford | 400,000 | Conservative Party |
| GMB | 396,093 | Labour Party |
| Michael D Bishop | 335,000 | Conservative Party |
| Unite – TGWU Section | 334,945 | Labour Party |
| Focus on Scotland | 316,000 | Conservative Party |
| IPGL Ltd | 307,746 | Conservative Party |
| Michael Farmer | 274,000 | Conservative Party |
| National Conservative Draws Society | 257,104 | Conservative Party |
| Lord Philip Harris of Peckham | 250,000 | Conservative Party |
| Sir Ronald Cohen | 250,000 | Labour Party |
| Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd | 224,550 | Liberal Democrats |
| Peter A Cruddas | 200,000 | Conservative Party |
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey