THREAD: A quite remarkable insight into how money dominates UK politics
1. Before 2001, political donations were shrouded in secrecy. The parties did not have to say who was funding them, and there were no spending limits during election campaigns. This changed when the Electoral Commission was set up in response to a series of sleaze allegations
2. Nowadays, if you donate more than £7,500 in one year, the political party has to publicly declare this. The records show that political donations have increased significantly since 2001.
3. There was a dip after the Conservative-led coalition government was formed in 2010. Donations shot up again in 2014, hitting a record high last year. Altogether, politicians and political parties raised more than £88m.
4. This graph shows the total amounts that were registered with the Electoral Commission each year, across all the parties. (The 2017 figures are lower because the year is not complete and many donations already received have not been formally registered yet). 
5. Conservatives get a cash surge before elections - There’s a lot of variation when we compare Conservative and Labour funding. Here’s the donations that the parties registered each year.
6. The number of large donations going to Labour has remained quite stable over the years. But large donations to the Tories come in peaks and troughs, which roughly align with general elections.
7. Who raised more for the 2017 election? Theresa May called the snap election in April, giving the parties 52 days to raise extra money before polling day.
During this 52-day period, the Conservatives received nearly three times as much in declarable donations than Labour.
During this 52-day period, the Conservatives received nearly three times as much in declarable donations than Labour.
8. The majority of money raised by political parties, after the 2017 election was called, came from individuals. Private companies and trade unions made up the next two largest categories of donors.
9. However, these figures do not include smaller donations that don’t have to be declared. Labour told FactCheck they raised £5m in small donations over the 52 days before the election. Of that, £4m came from online donations.
10. Is Labour really dependent on Trade Union funding?
There’s a lot of truth in this, but the majority of Labour’s funding actually comes from other sources. Here’s a breakdown of Labour donations registered in 2016.
There’s a lot of truth in this, but the majority of Labour’s funding actually comes from other sources. Here’s a breakdown of Labour donations registered in 2016.
11. Trade union support is clearly very important to the party, but it has actually become far less reliant on this.
In 2001, some 80 per cent of all Labour funding came from trade unions. That figure has now been cut by half.
In 2001, some 80 per cent of all Labour funding came from trade unions. That figure has now been cut by half.
12. Are the Conservatives really bankrolled by millionaires? Last year, 58 per cent of all declarable donations to the Conservatives came from individuals. Considering the threshold for declaration is £7,500, this suggests most of these people are probably fairly wealthy.
13. What’s more, donations worth at least half a million pounds make up 16 percent of all the money raised from individual Tory supporters.
14. The top ten Conservative donors alone have pumped more than £36m into the party since 2001. This accounts for more than 10 per cent of all the money raised by the party since 2001.
