General Election 2015: Concerns raised as just 76 individuals account for 41% of all political related donations in the past five years

Lottery winners Colin and Chris Weir gave £6.5m to the Scottish independence campaign and the SNP

(Getty/AFP)

Just 76 individuals donated 41 per cent of all individual and corporate donations to political parties and causes over the past five years, raising fresh concerns about party funding.

Between 2010 and 2014 25 people have given more than £1m each to various political causes, accounting for 28 per cent of the £174.4m donated in total, the first Sunday Times Political Rich List revealed.

The biggest contributors are lottery winners Colin and Chris Weir from Ayrshire in Scotland, who donated £3.5m to the Scottish independence campaign and a further £3m to the SNP. In 2011 they won £161m on EuroMillions.

The second and third spots are occupied by Tory donors City financier Lord Farmer and billionaire JCB chairman Lord Bamford, who gave £5m and £3.6m respectively.

The biggest Labour supporter was Lord David Sainsbury, who donated £3.5m to the party and other political causes, including David Miliband’s leadership campaign. The peer stopped funding Labour directly after Ed Miliband won the party leadership.

Lord Verjee, the Ugandan born businessman and philanthropist, was the Liberal Democrats’ top donor and gave £1.8m to the party during the current parliament.

The small number of people who account for such a large share of political donations has sparked concerns over party funding and the power it bestows on donors.

Alex Runswick, director of the campaign group Unlock Democracy, told The Independent: “The parties dependence on such a small number of wealthy donors reinforces the perception that politicians listen to donors and lobbyists but not voters.

“We need to introduce low level a cap on donations as a matter of urgency to stop money buying access and influence. It may be cosy for the parties to be able to invite large donors round for dinner but it undermines trust in our democracy.”

There are no caps on individual donations to political parties, but the name of anyone giving more than £7,500 must be made public.

The independent Committee for Standards on Public Life recommended in 2011 that political parties should receive £23m of public money to end the reliance on “big donors”.

In 2013 the three main parties attempted to reform party funding. But talks reportedly broke down after Labour refused to make concessions on trade union funding and the Tories would not address large individual donations from supporters.

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