Labour and the Liberal Democrats both recorded an increase in their incomes last year, primarily from donations, while funds in the Conservatives’ coffers fell, according to newly released accounts that appear to show ebbing financial support for the Tories.
Labour received an income for the year to the end of December that was more than 50% higher than the Conservatives’, totalling £47.2m for Keir Starmer’s party compared with just over £30.5m for Rishi Sunak’s.
The Lib Dems had an income of just under £6m. At £4.2m, the Scottish National party’s income fell, with the number of donations almost halving from 2021 at a tricky time for the party.
The Conservatives’ accounts show the party spent over £2m more than it earned during 2022, with total spending of just over £33m. During the same period, donations, which are traditionally the Tories’ major source of income, fell by slightly more than this deficit, from £20.5m to £18.1m.
Labour’s income is more of a mixture of membership revenues, money from affiliates, such as trade unions, and donations. Income from the first two fell between 2021 and 2022, but donations increased slightly, while wider “commercial income” increased by more than £1m.
Labour, which said in its accounts it was preparing for a general election expected next year, recorded a surplus of nearly £3m. The party has cut back on staff, with the accounts showing its running costs fell from £40.7m in 2021 to £34.8m a year later.
For the Lib Dems, whose profile has been raised by a series of byelection wins, total income increased only marginally, but within this, money from donations rose from £1.9m to £2.9m.
In contrast, the SNP’s donation income halved from just under £700,000 in 2021 to about £350,000 last year. The party is heavily reliant on membership income, which dropped slightly but still brought in more than £2.2m of the £4.2m total.
The SNP’s accounts show an overall loss of more than £800,000, its second biggest deficit ever recorded and the second largest of the main UK political parties last year.
The party’s treasurer, Stuart McDonald, blamed the drop in membership on the cost of living crisis. Police Scotland are conducting an investigation into the handling of £600,000 in donations earmarked for a second independence referendum.
The SNP had conducted an urgent search for auditors after it emerged in March that the party had been without any accountants for months – a fact that Humza Yousaf said he discovered only when he became leader.
The firm that submitted the accounts, AMS Accountants Group, issued an unusual “health warning” that some original documentation for cash and cheques received for membership, donations and raffle income had not been kept by the party.
The accounts cover all UK parties with annual income or expenditure of at least £250,000, of which there are 19. One of them, the far-right Britain First party, failed to file its accounts on time and has been given an extended deadline.
Among other parties, the Greens in England and Wales recorded a slight rise in income to £3.1m, while Plaid Cymru’s dropped marginally but remained near £1m.
Reclaim, the hard-right group led by the actor Laurence Fox, had an income of £716,000, all from donations, well down on the £1.8m it received the year before.
Reform UK, the successor to Nigel Farage’s Brexit party, recorded a £250,000 deficit and a slightly lower income than Reclaim, at £690,000, again all from donations.
