Lord Sainsbury returns to Labour with £2m donation after cutting ties during Corbyn era

Dozens of wealthy donors want to ‘get on board’, says leading defector from Tory party – as Lord Sainsbury returns to party

Sir Keir Starmer has been given a £2m boost from a major New Labour era donor, as dozens of top business leaders are asking how to “get on board” with the Labour Party ahead of the next election.

Labour confirmed that David Sainsbury, the former supermarket chair who withdrew his financial support for the party during the Jeremy Corbyn era, has provided his first multimillion-pound donation since 2016.

Lord Sainsbury said in a statement that he was donating to Labour again because he wanted “to see Keir Starmer become prime minister as soon as possible”. He added: “I believe that Keir Starmer has the leadership skills and ability to deal with the economic difficulties we currently face.”