POLITICAL parties in the UK accepted more than £20 million in donations in the third quarter of 2023 – with three-quarters of that going to the Tories alone.
Including public funds, more than £25m was accepted by British political parties from July to September 2023, according to figures published by the Electoral Commission.
This is a sharp increase on the £11.7m accepted in the same period in 2022 (July to September).
In the third quarter of 2023, the Tories accepted £15.3m in donations, Labour took in £3m, and the LibDems £1m.
Scottish pro-independence parties including the SNP, Scottish Greens, and Alba, took no donations over the same period.
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Louise Edwards, the Electoral Commission’s director of regulation, said: “We know that voters are interested in where parties get their money from, and this publication is an important part of delivering transparency for voters.
“However, it’s clear that publishing this information is not enough. We’ve seen for some time that public confidence in the transparency of party and campaigner finance is declining.
“We continue to recommend to the UK Government that it introduces laws to help protect parties from those who seek to evade the law, and give voters more confidence in the process by requiring more checks on the identity of donors.”
Here is how much every political party in the UK accepted in donations and public funds in the third quarter of 2023:
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