Conservatives defy claims the party is ‘dying’ with millions in fundraising
The Tory party raised £3.4m in donations in the first quarter of 2025, surpassing all other parties’ fundraising efforts and defying claims the party was ‘dying’.
In addition to short money – meaning taxpayer and electoral commission funding – the Tories received £5.5m in the three months to end March.
In the last quarter of 2024, the Conservatives raised £1.9m, more than all the other ‘major’ parties combined.
£1m of the £3.4m raised was donated by video game mogul Jez San.
The party is also planning a massive Summer bash – the biggest since before the pandemic – in a bid to bring in more funders. The do will be bankrolled by David Ross, co-founder of telecoms company, Carphone Warehouse.
The Tory party claims Labour is “completely reliant on union donations with £1.4 million received from them” in the first quarter.
Tories fight back
Despite polling by City AM and Freshwater strategy indicating that a majority of Reform and Tory supporters would back a merger of the parties, the Conservatives are still on the offensive.
The Tories have taken the opportunity to hit back at Reform, stating Farage’s party is “engaged in yet another episode of internecine warfare with the Party Chairman quitting last week and telling prospective donors and the public that working to get Reform UK elected was not a good use of his time, before returning 48 hours later and claiming he was tired, has failed to secure the donations they claimed were coming.”
It’s possible the influx of private donations to the Tories constitutes an attempt to buttress the party while the Reform party continues to encroach on their voter base.
The Conservatives also suggested Reform UK is being dishonest about their donations.
“In January, Reform UK party sources claimed a dinner in Mayfair had secured over £1 million in pledges yet there is no evidence in the latest Electoral Commission figures that support this. Electoral Commission figures show 42 per cent of Reform UK’s donations in this quarter rely on £613,000 from Richard Tice’s own company,” the Conservative party said.
Reform claims Tory party is over
Reform is plowing on with their strategy of dismissing the Tories as a viable party. On Tuesday morning, Nigel Farage said: “It doesn’t matter what Kemi Badnoch says, no one’s listening.”
Last month, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said “I don’t think many in the media class yet really understand the extent to which [the Tories] are dying as a political party,” while proclaiming to have unseated the Tories as the main party on the right.
The Conservatives celebrated the figures, with party co-chairman Dominic Johnson saying that the party’s finances “are in great shape,” and taking it as a sign the Tories have proven themselves as the party “of sound money and economic credibility.”
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride suggested the Tories were only able to do this with leader Kemi Badenoch at the wheel.
“While Labour remains reliant on union backing, it is the Conservatives that are attracting the backing of business,” Stride said.