Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q4, 2011)

The Electoral Commission has this past week published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties, showing that the Lib Dems raised £1,076,469 between October and December this year.

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

By comparison, the party raised £1,724,842 in the fourth quarter of 2006 (the equivalent stage of the parliamentary cycle). This is the first time since I’ve been covering the Lib Dem donation figures I can recall the figure for donations received being lower now than in the past. However, the direct Q4 comparison conceals the bigger picture:

In 2006 (Q1-Q4), the Lib Dems raised £2,967,244 (and received a further £1.94m of public ‘Short’ money);

In 2011 (Q1-Q4), the Lib Dems raised £4,131,750 (and received just £0.40m of public money).

In total, then, the party is having to undertake all its activities with some £500k less money — but donations are up by more than one-third. Which is just as well from the party’s perspective, though whether the Lib Dems’ reliance on fundraising is good for the body politic is a more moot point.

Here’s the breakdown of all donations (excluding public funds) by source:

Five/six-figure donations coming from the following: Methuen Liberal Trust Fund (£329,352); Ministry of Sound Ltd (£153,267); Llantisilio Hall Trust (£29,000.00); Brompton Captial Limited (£25,000); Dr Annette Rawson OBE (£20,000); Mr Finn Gray (£20,000); Mr Thomas R L Fraser (£17,372); Mr Richard Duncalf (£15,000); Ms Julia Glenn (£15,000); PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (£14,811); Mr Derek J Webb (£12,500); Ms Hannah O’Donnell (£12,500); Mr Dominic Mathon (£10,000).

43 elected Lib Dems or peers contributed this quarter – those I spot-checked were: Chris Huhne MP £4,875; Lord Mcnally £4,200; Lord Oakeshott £4,000; Mr Alan Reid £3,518; Mr J Vince Cable £2,776; Baroness Randerson £2,500; Baroness Bonham-Carter £2,400; Lord Alderdice £2,400; Lord Avebury £2,400; Lord Carlile £2,400; Lord Clement-Jones £2,400; Ms Fiona Hall £2,300; Baroness Brinton £2,200; Baroness Doocey £2,200; Baroness Thomas £2,200; Lord Palmer £2,200; Lord Stoneham £2,200; Lord Strasburger £2,200; Lord Willis of Kresborough £2,200; Lord Burnett £2,000; Lord Goodhart £2,000; Lord Greaves £2,000; Ms Jenny Willott MP £1,940; Lord Marks of Henley on Thames £1,900; Lord Hussain £1,800; Mr Roger Williams MP £1,800; Mr Mike Hancock MP £1,734; Baroness Sharp of Guildford £1,600; Baroness Tyler of Enfield £1,600; Lord Ezra £1,600; Lord MacDonald £1,600; Mr Norman Lamb MP £1,600; Mr Andrew Stunnell £1,500; Mrs Annette Brooke £1,400; Mr Duncan Hames MP £1,350; Mr Stephen Lloyd MP £1,320; Baroness Garden £1,250; Lord Goodhart £1,200; Mr Steve Webb MP £1,020; Baroness Hamwee £1,000; Lord Bradshaw £1,000; Mr Norman Baker £900; Mr Alan Beith £750; Lord Goodhart £600.

Our figures are of course dwarfed by the Tories and Labour fundraising among their friends in big business and the trade unions. Labour raised more than the Lib Dems’ total donations from trade unions alone — £1.75m in the fourth quarter of this year. In stark contrast, Labour raised just £273k from only 20 individuals, significantly less than the Lib Dems achieved in the same period. The Conservatives, meanwhile, were more successful in raising money from individuals (£1.79m), but were also very heavily reliant on their friends in big business, receiving some £705k from corporate gifts.

In terms of outstanding loans, however, the Lib Dems are in a much healthier position. The party has £393,870 registered with the Electoral Commission, compared with £2.7m for the Tories, and a stonking £9.9m of loans helping keep Labour afloat.

Not susprisingly, this is a tricky time for the Lib Dems, in government for the first time in 80 years, and having to fight opponents with deep-pocketed friends and a hostile media. So if you are in a position to help the Liberal Democrats fight on a level-playing field, there has never been a more important time to do so. You can donate to the national party using this secure 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, 2001-11 (excl. public funds):

2011, Q1 = £847,373
2011, Q2 = £1,014,434
2011, Q3 = £1,193,474
2011, Q4 = £1,076,469
2011 = £4,131,750

2010, Q1 = £1,958,446
2010, Q2 = £2,140,933
2010, Q3 = £371,861
2010, Q4 = £536,043
2010 = £5,007,284

2009, Q1 = £842,276
2009, Q2 = £1,231,686
2009, Q3 = £881,406
2009, Q4 = £1,173,000
2009 = £4,128,589

2008, Q1 = £477,416
2008, Q2 = £987,993
2008, Q3 = £611,521
2008, Q4 = £995,288
2008 = £3,072,217

2007, Q1 = £698,875
2007, Q2 = £758,473
2007, Q3 = £841,742
2007, Q4 = £994,687
2007 = £3,293,778

2006, Q1 = £260,354
2006, Q2 = £333,533
2006, Q3 = £648,515
2006, Q4 = £1,724,842
2006 = £2,967,244

2005, Q1 = £3,746,093
2005, Q2 = £837,931
2005, Q3 = £200,923
2005, Q4 = £407,156
2005 = £5,192,103

2004 = £2,569,961

2003 = £1,492,365

2002 = £714,530

2001 = £1,173,163

* Stephen was Editor (and Co-Editor) of Liberal Democrat Voice from 2007 to 2015, and writes at The Collected Stephen Tall.

4 Comments

Hywel 24th Feb '12 - 2:35pm

AIUI the threshold for declaring donations has risen since 2006. Does that mean that whilst donations of £1000 might have fallen to be declared & published in 2006, in 2011 they are not? If so that might mean that a comparison isn’t possible.
David 24th Feb '12 - 4:11pm

Hywel is correct donations between £1000.01 and £1500 have been missing from the figures since January 2010 so the figures are not direrctly comparable.
Tony Greaves 24th Feb '12 - 11:37pm

I think much of the donations from peers will be contributions towards the cost of running the House of Lords LD Whips Office which has to be self-funded since theloss of Cranbourne money (that’s House of Lords “Short” money). I think there are a lot more than shown here, notably people who pay by standing order over a year. Also, I doubt if different donations to different bits of the party have been properly aggregated in some cases, possibly because the different bits do not add up to more than £1500.

Tony Greaves
Chris_sh 25th Feb '12 - 9:14am

@Stephen

“…. but were also very heavily reliant on their friends in big business….”
As the percentage for business donations was pretty much the same for both the Lib Dems and Conservatives, doesn’t that mean the LD Party was also heavily reliant on friends in business?