Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q2, 2010)

By Stephen Tall | Mon 23rd August 2010 - 6:53 pm

The Electoral Commission has today published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties, showing that the Lib Dems raised just over £2.05 million in the second three months of this year, and almost £4 million in total in the frst half of the year.

(At the foot of this post is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.)

By comparison, the party raised £4.4m in the first half of 2005 (leading up to that year’s general election) – but that did of course include that £2.4m donation from Michael Brown. If we exclude that one-off donation, which had to be spent immediately under the terms of the gift agreement, the Lib Dems have raised considerably more this time around.

Five/six-figure gifts coming from the following: Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd (£350k), Brompton Capital Limited (£250k), Lord Alliance (£100k), C & C Business Solutions (£100k), Alpha Healthcare Ltd (£95k), Christopher Nicholson (£59k), Hereford Liberal Club (£25k), Simon B Ruddick (£25k), Angus Tulloch (£25k), Michael I Brehme (£25k), Gordon Roddick (£20k), Kevin Cahill (£20k), Vitabiotics Limited (£20k), Iris M Jones (£20k, bequest), Joanna Kenny (£18,408), Greg Dyke (£15k), Lord Vallance (£15k), Frances M Cameron (£13,373, bequest), David C M Bell (£13k), Reading Liberal Club (£12k), Giles Archibald (£12k), Peter Crystal (£11k), Christopher Huhne (£10.2k), Hervia Limited (£10k), Paul Strasburger (£10k), Shelagh Ainslie (£10k), John Forbes (£10k), Auvian Limited (£10k), Pheroze Sorabjee (£10k), Stephen Dawson (£10k), Merthyr Tydfil Car Autions Ltd (£10k), Carrousel Capital Limited (£10k), Betterworld Ltd (£10k), Stephen Brown (£10k), Katherine Smyth (£10k), Peter Bennet-Jones (£10k).

16 Parliamentarians contributed this quarter – those who gave £1k+ I spot-checked were: Lord Vallance (£15k), Christopher Huhne (£10.2k), Alan Reid MP (£8k), Mike Hancock (£7.48k), Lord Goodhart (£6.94k), Christopher Davies MEP (£5.5k), Lynne Featherstone (£4.2k), Vincent Cable (£3.9k), Richard Younger-Ross (£3k), Lord Shipley (£2.6k), Annette Brooke (£2.4k), John Hemming (£2k), Paul Holmes (£1.94k), Baroness Walmsley (£1.75k), Lord Thomas (£1.75k), Tim Farron (£1.56k).

Our figures are of course dwarfed by the Tories and Labour fundraising among their friends in big business and the trade unions. Labour has raised £15m during the first half of 2010 alone, the Tories a further £24.7m. Yet the Lib Dems are the only one of the three main parties whose accounts are in the black. Indeed, if M’Lord Prescott is to be believed, Labour is scarcely a going concern any longer. Enough to make you wonder which party can be most trusted with the nation’s finances, isn’t it.

However, the party still needs more resources, many more resources, to try and fight on a level-playing field, especially at a time when the national media is more determined than ever to spin against the Lib Dems. So, please, if you haven’t done so already, consider setting up a direct debit to the Lib Dems today. You can donate to the national party using this link.

Here are a few of the ways in which your gift can make a difference to the party’s campaigning in the months ahead:

Here are the full Lib Dem donation figures, 2001-10:

2010, Q1 = £1,931,147
2010, Q2 = £2,047,071
2010 (to date) = £3,978,218

2009, Q1 = £790,075
2009, Q2 = £1,088,083
2009, Q3 = £747,658
2009, Q4 = £1,045,817
2009 = £3,671,633

2008, Q1 = £385,931
2008, Q2 = £635,435
2008, Q3 = £519,823
2008, Q4 = £875,611
2008 = £2,416,800

2007, Q1 = £607,457
2007, Q2 = £631,451
2007, Q3 = £731,364
2007, Q4 = £853,387
2007 = £2,823,659

2006, Q1 = £219,915
2006, Q2 = £233,669
2006, Q3 = £571,715
2006, Q4 = £1,643,859
2006 = £2,669,158

2005, Q1 = £3,709,897
2005, Q2 = £713,656
2005, Q3 = £174,751
2005, Q4 = £317,188
2005 = £4,915,492

2004 = £2,374,319

2003 = £1,223,135

2002 = £618,783

2001 = £1,052,010

9 Comments

Niklas Smith 23rd Aug '10 - 7:34pm

What I wonder when I see the standard examples of “what your money can do” is how much of the money that goes to the federal party actually ends up being spent on Focus leaflets and garden posters. How many constituencies get significant funds from Cowley Street? In Cambridge we were left entirely to our own resources in the last election, only one election after we had first won the seat.
Hywel 23rd Aug '10 - 7:47pm

Are these just the donations to the party (locally or federally)? There may be more than the 16 MPs who contributed to their own or the local election campaigns directly which AIUI won’t show up in the Electoral Commission returns.

And you must tell me where you get your tabloids printed!
Niklas Smith 23rd Aug '10 - 7:54pm

@Hywel: since a number of the donations are less than the £7500 reportability threshold for the federal party many are probably to local parties (who have to report donations of £1500 or more). I clearly should have looked more closely! (Though my question remains.)

This is of course a good time to point out that donations under these thresholds do not get reported to the Electoral Commission so do not appear in their figures. The only way to count small donations is to go through the accounts of the relevant accounting unit.
Hywel 23rd Aug '10 - 8:13pm

I was thinking of the situation where you donate to a particular election campaign. AIUI that appears on the agents return of expenses but isn’t aggregated by the Electoral Commission. It was highlighted by Mark a while back as a bit of a loop–hole as the expense returns aren’t available years later in the why donations reports are. (this may have changed as I didn’t handle anything in that way this time).

Your question is a valid one – but I’m probably the last person who should criticise how federal campaigns money was dished out to target seats!
Niklas Smith 24th Aug '10 - 10:50am

It wasn’t really a criticism, as Cambridge has a strong local party and some fairly generous local donors, and I know that central party finances have always been strained. But I was decidedly worried when Tony Juniper raised over £30,000 from a benefit concert by a singer who’s name I’ve forgotten (stupidly, as he’s rather famous)!
Darren Reynolds 24th Aug '10 - 1:53pm

Dividing the amount raised in Q2 by the number of MPs elected reveals:

Conservative: £40,137.52
Labour: £42,111.06
Liberal Democrat : £35,913.51

No idea what that means, but it surely must mean something.
Niklas Smith 24th Aug '10 - 4:09pm

@Darren Reynolds: Interesting. It may be that having a local MP helps raise funds from mid- to large donors locally, as they can see where their money is going.
Fran Oborski 25th Aug '10 - 4:27pm

You are massively overcharging FOCUS costs!
Richard Blogger 19th Sep '11 - 9:30pm

Have the following three donated before? C & C Business Solutions (£100k), Alpha Healthcare Ltd (£95k), Christopher Nicholson (£59k, I assume the CN who’s a director of Humana)? I ask because they all have a connection with private healthcare and the Lib Dems are currently making no effort at all to stop the Conservative government from privatising the NHS. You can, of course refuse donations if you think it will compromise you.