Boris Johnson boosts fundraising lead over Jeremy Hunt with £235,000 donated by Brexit backers

Donors are overwhelmingly white, wealthy, older men – and mainly from the world of finance

Boris Johnson has increased his funding lead over Jeremy Hunt in the race to become the next prime minister, backed by financiers and businessmen who support Brexit.

Mr Johnson has registered £235,000 pounds in the past two weeks of the Tory leadership contest, taking the total amount he has received in the last year to £502,000 pounds, according to newly released figures.

By comparison, Mr Hunt has drawn a blank – registering no additional donations in the last two weeks.

The figures show the majority of money donated to Mr Johnson’s campaign comes from hedge fund managers and other financiers backing Britain’s exit from the European Union, favouring low taxes and the deregulation of the UK economy.

The donors are overwhelmingly white, wealthy, older men, according to an analysis by Reuters.

The increase in donations comes after Mr Johnson met hedge fund and private equity executives at a private members club two weeks ago to raise donations for his leadership bid.

Rob Birley, the owner of 5 Hertford Street, a private members’ club in Mayfair district, gave his campaign £20,000, the register of lawmakers’ financial interests shows.

The largest overall donation to his campaign has come from the hedge fund manager Jon Wood, the founder of SRM Global, who has donated £75,000 pounds.

Boris Johnson holds a battering ram during a visits to Thames Valley Police Training Centre on Wednesday (REUTERS) (Reuters)

The most recent donations include £50,000 pounds from Peter Cruddas, one of the City of London’s most prominent Brexiteers, and £50,000 pounds from financier James Reuben. Johan Christofferson, co-founder of US hedge fund Christofferson Robb, has donated £36,000 pounds to the campaign.

The fundraising details come as the BBC announced that the Tory leadership contenders will both face a grilling from leading broadcaster Andrew Neil.

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt will give half-an-hour interviews to Mr Neil in a special programme shown at 7pm on July 12.

The scrutiny will come after foreign secretary Mr Hunt repeatedly criticised the front-runner for only committing to one head-to-head debate in the final stages of the contest.

Mr Johnson had declined a Sky News showdown before agreeing to take part in one on July 9. He has been highly critical of the BBC for offering to stage a debate late on in the contest, concerned many members will already have voted.

BBC News director Fran Unsworth said: “Andrew Neil is one of the best political interviewers on television.

“He’ll be questioning the two candidates on behalf of audiences up and down the country, including the Conservative Party members who are voting for their next leader.

“Their decision will, of course, affect all of us, so we think it’s strongly in the public interest that we put the two candidates and their policy ambitions to the test.”

Additional reporting by agencies