Howard boosts Tory coffers
Michael Howard’s assumption of the Conservative Party leadership has resulted in donations to the party doubling since he took over in November.
Mr Howard’s victory in the leadership contest has also led the public to donate more cash to all three main political parties, latest donation figures from the Electoral Commission show.
Tory party donations now exceed the subsidy the party receives from the state, with the data putting private donations at £1.88 million, compared to a state subsidy of just short of £1 million.
Spread betting millionaire Stuart Wheeler donated £504,000 in the last three months of 2003, with £44,250 from the author Frederick Forsyth, £25,000 from Simon Robertson, a Goldman Sachs partner, and £10,000 from Sir Tim Rice also contributing to the Tory coffers.
Almost all the donations announced came after Iain Duncan Smith was ousted as party leader following a vote if no confidence by MPs.
In the previous quarter under Mr Duncan Smith the party’s private donations were £789,000 compared to a public subsidy of £1.05 million.
During the last quarter of 2003, donations to Labour also almost doubled and the amount pledged to the Liberal Democrats was also up.
Labour donations rose to £4.1 million, up from £2.26 million in the previous quarter, with the single biggest donation of £1 million coming from arts philanthropist Christopher Ondaatje.
The Liberal Democrats received £448,156 in private donations, up from £297,911, during the same three month period. The largest sum came from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.
