A Russian-born banker handed another £52,000 to the Tories over the summer, new figures have revealed.
Lubov Chernukhin, the UK's biggest female political donor ever, is married to a former Putin ally.
She has frequently bid in fundraising auctions at Tory fundraising events, bagging privileged access to successive Prime Ministers including a cosy night out with Theresa May and Liz Truss, and tennis matches with Boris Johnson and David Cameron.
Newly released donation figures reveal she handed over £37,000 to the party in July - which may have been linked to the Tories' Summer Party the previous month, and which Ms Chernukhin attended.
She also gave a personal donation of £15,000 to Brandon Lewis on July 14, a week after he stepped down as Northern Ireland Secretary.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Ms Chernukhin, who is a British citizen and has been legally entitled to make political donations since 2012.
Ms Chernukin’s husband, Vladimir, served as Mr Putin's deputy finance minister in the early 2000s, although the Conservative Party has said he had since fallen out of favour with the Russian leader.
In 2020, Ms Chernukhin’s lawyer said: “Mrs Chernukhin’s donations to the Conservative Party have never been tainted by Kremlin or any other influence.”
Today's donations report revealed a cash boost for Labour, who were neck-and-neck with the Tories in the three months to September, with both bringing in about £2.8 million.
In total the Conservatives brought in almost £3million while Labour raked in £4.7million, according to the Electoral Commission.
When public funds are excluded, Keir Starmer's party accepted donations worth £2.83million while the Tories were on £2.89million.
The new figures represent a boost for Labour on the second quarter of 2022 where the party recorded just short of £1.5million in donations.
The Conservatives received donations of £4.7million in the same period when Boris Johnson was still Prime Minister.
But Labour is also expecting another increase in the next set of figures which are not due to be published until February 2023.
It is understood to have already raised twice as much in individual donations compared to the previous three months.
