Labour has been raking in private donations after making a big effort to woo business leaders and wealthy philanthropists over the last three years. The campaign has been spearheaded by donor Waheed Alli, a media executive, but also driven by Tony Blair’s former chief fundraiser Michael Levy – both Labour peers. Their efforts have returned a few New Labour-era donors to the fold, optimistic that Starmer has turned the party’s fortunes around, and a large number of new names have cropped up as well.
The trade unions, membership subscriptions and fundraising events such as party conference make up a large part of the funding pot, but these are the big individual donors contributing to Labour’s campaign coffers right now:
The New Labour stalwart
David Sainsbury, a Labour peer since 1997 and scion of the supermarket dynasty, deserves a category of his own after donating a couple of million pounds a year to Labour during the New Labour era, and serving as a science minister for eight years under Blair. He largely stopped donating to Labour during the Jeremy Corbyn era, apart from funding the party’s remain campaign, and then announced he would stop giving money to political causes after the 2017 election. However, he subsequently became the largest single donor in political history when he made a £8m donation to the Liberal Democrats in 2019.
Under Starmer, he has firmly become a Labour donor again, giving £2m last October and then £3m in April, as well as funding other thinktanks such as the Institute for Government, and educational causes such as the University of Cambridge. His daughter, Fran Perrin, is also a major Labour donor in her own right, giving over £1m to the party under Starmer’s leadership.
The new megadonors
Gary Lubner, the former boss of Autoglass, the car glass repair company, gave £2.2m last May and is believed to be contributing more than that again before the next election. He told the FT at the time that he had wanted to put the party in power for a long time. Born in South Africa, he has said his political views had been shaped by being conscripted into the police during apartheid, and his grandparents having come to South Africa to escape Jewish pogroms in Russia.
Dale Vince, the founder of gas and electricity supplier Ecotricity, has given at least £1.4m to the party through his company since 2014. Ecotricity gave small sums throughout the last decade but its contributions really ramped up in the Starmer era with a £500,000 gift in October last year. However, the donations have caused Labour some controversy, as he has also bankrolled Just Stop Oil in recent years, triggering a Tory attack on the party for being funded by an “eco zealot”. Vince recently said he would stop funding Just Stop Oil to concentrate on his political donations.
City and media figures
Sir Victor Blank, the former chair of Lloyds TSB, has resumed making donations, giving £175,000 since 2020, much of which was used to fund staff for the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves. Blank previously donated £150,000 to Ed Miliband’s election effort.
Martin Taylor is a hedge fund supremo who contributed £600,000 during the Miliband era. He has been funding Labour centrally, but is giving more to the Labour Together group, including £100,000 in July.
Stuart Roden, best known for his time as chair of Lansdowne Partners, has given £180,000 to the party this year.
Waheed Alli, who made his money in TV production and is a Labour peer, has led the party’s fundraising efforts under Starmer. He has given almost £300,000 in the last few years.
Grant Mansfield, founder of the TV production company Plimsoll, gave £50,000 earlier this year.
Tory defectors
Gareth Quarry, a businessman who made a fortune in recruitment, gave £100,000 to the Tories but has since described them as unelectable for a decade. He has now given £100,000 to Labour.
Robin MacGeachy is the owner of Peak Scientific, a world leader in gas generators, which formerly donated to the Tories but has now turned its attention to Scottish Labour. Together with related companies, it has donated £400,000 to Labour. In the past it has also given to the Liberal Democrats – putting its effort into funding pro-union parties.
The politicians
Barbara Follett, the former Labour MP, has recently begun donating larger amounts again after giving a lot during the Blair and Miliband eras. The wife of author Ken Follett, she served as the MP for Stevenage from 1997 to 2010.
Fiona Mactaggart was the MP for Slough for 20 years. She gave £300,000 this year. She inherited wealth from her late father, Sir Ian Mactaggart, a Glasgow property developer.
• This article was amended on 9 October 2023. An earlier version featured Norwich South MP Clive Lewis in the politicians section, stating that “in recent years he has given £200,000 to the Labour party”. In fact this is a different Clive Lewis, the former chairman of River Island, and the reference has been removed.
