Read Vernon Bogdanor on why we need public funding for political parties
“Whenever party funding scandals hit the news, the public aren't surprised. In fact, they have grown to expect it.”
Such was the conclusion of a recent Electoral Reform Society report, quoted by Vernon Bogdanor in a piece for this month's Prospect. Receiving only minimal public money and, in the case of the larger parties, struggling with a long term collapse in membership numbers and subscriptions revenue, all political parties have to grope about for cash to fund their campaigns. Bogdanor argues that we should come up with a system of public funding to make our politics more transparent.
He's certainly right that the identities of each party's top donors—scroll down to see the lists we've put together—can make for some surprising and occasionally damaging reading. Here are a few things you probably didn't know about who pays for our politics.
What's more surprising is the overall amount of money raised. The Tories, for all that they struggle with a “party of the rich” image and however much other parties' activists complain about the amount of cash their Tory rivals have to play with, didn't get as much money in this parliament as Labour. It's true that the Tories have managed to squeeze much more out of private donors—thanks in part to events like their recent controversial black and white ball—but Labour took more overall with over £101m to the Tories' £86m.
That's because of the public funding to which Labour is entitled as the main opposition party, and which constitutes almost 40 per cent of their overall funding.
The main component of this public funding is so-called Short Money, which is given to parties when in opposition in Westminster. This is to take into account the practical advantages that come from being in government, such as the office space, ministerial perks such as cars, drivers, civil service guidance and so on. Labour also suffer from being portrayed as in the pockets of "Union Barons,” a stereotype hardly allayed by their top ten list, which contains seven major unions.
Conservatives:
Labour:
Lib Dems:
Ukip:
Greens:
SNP:
“Whenever party funding scandals hit the news, the public aren't surprised. In fact, they have grown to expect it.”
Such was the conclusion of a recent Electoral Reform Society report, quoted by Vernon Bogdanor in a piece for this month's Prospect. Receiving only minimal public money and, in the case of the larger parties, struggling with a long term collapse in membership numbers and subscriptions revenue, all political parties have to grope about for cash to fund their campaigns. Bogdanor argues that we should come up with a system of public funding to make our politics more transparent.
He's certainly right that the identities of each party's top donors—scroll down to see the lists we've put together—can make for some surprising and occasionally damaging reading. Here are a few things you probably didn't know about who pays for our politics.
Conservatives vs Labour: who is the party of the rich?
What won't surprise anyone about the Tories' list is that the majority work in finance. Its top donor, Michael Farmer, known as “Mr Copper", made his fortune in metals trading and now runs a hedge fund. He was made a Tory peer last year. A key Labour line of attack in recent weeks has been the Tories' reliance on hedge funds for its cash, with Ed Miliband's party claiming earlier this year that 27 of the 59 wealthiest hedge fund managers have donated to the Tories.What's more surprising is the overall amount of money raised. The Tories, for all that they struggle with a “party of the rich” image and however much other parties' activists complain about the amount of cash their Tory rivals have to play with, didn't get as much money in this parliament as Labour. It's true that the Tories have managed to squeeze much more out of private donors—thanks in part to events like their recent controversial black and white ball—but Labour took more overall with over £101m to the Tories' £86m.
That's because of the public funding to which Labour is entitled as the main opposition party, and which constitutes almost 40 per cent of their overall funding.
The main component of this public funding is so-called Short Money, which is given to parties when in opposition in Westminster. This is to take into account the practical advantages that come from being in government, such as the office space, ministerial perks such as cars, drivers, civil service guidance and so on. Labour also suffer from being portrayed as in the pockets of "Union Barons,” a stereotype hardly allayed by their top ten list, which contains seven major unions.
Ukip: Slow and steady
Ukip have attracted attention for their ability to steal Tory donors, with multimillionaire Stuart Wheeler taking his money from the Conservatives to the "people's army" in 2009, reportedly also helping to broker the defection of Conservative MP Douglas Carswell, who went on to become Ukip's first MP. But the journey from blue to purple may not be as slick as the party would like you to think. In October the businessman and former Tory donor Arron Banks pledged £1m to the party. According to the latest Electoral Commission figures, which run up to last New Year's Eve, the party was still waiting on almost £400,000 of that money as of 31st December. A Ukip spokesperson declined to comment on whether they've yet received the rest of the cash.The Lib Dems: love in this club
Casual observers of the coalition's second party may be taken aback to see Ministry of Sound, one of London's most famous superclubs, clocking in at number three on the list. In fact, the Lib Dems got into this ministry before they wormed their way into any of the ones in Whitehall: James Palumbo, the club's founder, let them use it as a base for their last London mayoral campaign and has been giving to the party since 2004. Perhaps it was his London nightlife connections that led voters to name Nick Clegg the most attractive party leader in a YouGov poll last year.The SNP: for the few?
The SNP draws its biggest donations from individuals committed to the nationalist cause. Followers of last year's independence referendum will remember Colin and Chris Weir, for example, a couple who won £161m on EuroMillions in 2011, and have since given a big chunk of it to Nicola Sturgeon's party and to the cross-party campaign for independence. While such eccentric gestures from enthusiastic supporters might in a sense fit with the party's plucky outsider image, the fact that they've received about 75 per cent of the money they've taken in the past five years from just 11 people could be said to undermine their claim to command broad support from all areas of Scottish society.The Greens: helping themselves
It may surprise readers to learn that the Greens have two representatives of “Big Business” in their top ten, though those businesses are the decidedly hippy-dippy Body Shop (Thomas Gordon Roddick, widower of its late founder) and Lush (Mark Constantine). Otherwise, the comparatively tiny size of Green party funds—and the party's commitment to only taking from donors who reflect its values—is underlined by the fact that their top ten list is stuffed with current and former party candidates: Heather Hunt, Edward Milford, Rupert Read, Sarah Edwards and Christopher Guy Borril Simpson all stood or are standing in elections for the party.Who are the parties' top donors?
(Figures cover this parliament up until last New Year's Eve. Non cash donations such as sponsorship, advertising and free work have been counted)Conservatives:
Labour:
Lib Dems:
Ukip:
Greens:
SNP:
