The British Conservative Party is now facing a financial crisis
Sponsors of the UK Conservative Party have cut funding until better times. And, according to common opinion, those times will come when it becomes clear who will replace Sunak as the new leader.
By law, as in almost all of Europe, parties must spend the same amount on the campaign. In the last election, it was 19 million pounds, and this time it has been almost doubled. Then the search for sponsors begins.
It turned out that the Labour Party raised five times more money than the Conservatives. Their main donors are usually trade unions. However, this campaign saw one of the largest — Unite, unimpressed with Keir Starmer’s manifesto and not donating at all, even though they were the main supporter of the Labour Party in the 2019 election. In general, the overall share of trade unions in campaign funding in the last election was 90 percent. This time it’s 24.
Former professional poker player Derek Webb donated a quarter of a million to Labour. He probably hit a «royal flush».
As for the Tories, they collected less than a tenth of what they received in the last election. About as much as the Liberal Democrats or Reform UK raised. Of the 248 donors to Boris Johnson’s campaign, only six remained this time.
One of them is the richest man in Britain, Prakash Hinduja. He is of Indian origin, so it’s understandable why he wanted to help Rishi Sunak’s party. But he didn’t make it in time; rather, the firm under his control managed to transfer only 50 thousand. Hinduja, his wife, and their son and daughter-in-law appeared before a Swiss court accused of cruel treatment of their mansion staff in Geneva.
They were sentenced to prison — all received from 4 to 4 and a half years, but Hinduja intends to appeal the sentence. The family was accused of many sins, such as exploitation, illegal employment, insults, etc. But at least the court dismissed the human trafficking charges — otherwise, everything would have been different.
As a result, the most generous donor turned out to be Lord Sainsbury, the founder of the largest chain of English supermarkets bearing his name. He died last year but bequeathed 10 million pounds to the Conservatives. However, he stipulated that the money should go towards the functioning of the party, not the election campaign. But it seems the Conservatives couldn’t resist and still attracted a quarter of this money for the election.
Interestingly, there is Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover, and there is his cousin, also a lord and also Sainsbury, but from Turville. The latter sent 8 million not even to the Labour Party but to the Liberal Democrats, but it turned out that the Preston brother who helped the Conservatives was more generous.
Now, after balancing the accounts, the Conservative leadership is pondering. With such a dire financial situation, the party cannot stay afloat for long. And sponsors won’t give money until they see a more or less predictable prospect. Namely: who will be the new party leader after Sunak. First — the leader, then — the money.
Currently, they see the way out as follows. In the autumn, a conference should be convened, and a vote should be held. According to internal rules, candidates are determined by the «1922 Committee», consisting of backbenchers, i.e., rank-and-file MPs, and the party leadership. They set the schedule and the number of MPs.
It is assumed that this time there will be seven candidates, of which two will make it to the final. The elections will be held at the Party Conference, currently scheduled for early October. But many Tories, including high-ranking ones, fear that the process will drag on, and the party may not financially survive. And, as a reminder, donors do not give money during the fight for the top spot.
As a result, another split has begun in the Tory camp. One part believes that October is a perfectly normal month for the party conference since rushing could lead to the wrong choice, and internal struggle will end badly.
Another part believes that elections cannot be delayed and that internal struggle will lead to nothing good. In this regard, Tories recall the conflict in the Labour Party when ministers, brothers Ed and David Miliband, quarreled.
«They lost the 2015 election in 2010 because Labour was then focused on its internal problems», says one of the Conservative leaders. «This allowed Dave (Cameron) to fight on his terms. The leader of the opposition must be in place by early September. That’s when Starmer will start breaking his election promises».
This point of view is now being seriously considered by the Conservative Party. A new leader is undoubtedly needed by September, as the new budget project by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) Rachel Reeves will be presented for discussion. She will most likely claim that she inherited a half-empty treasury and has no other choice — sorry — but to raise taxes. And at that moment, the opposition needs to start working desperately.
Moreover, a protracted contest will also allow the leader of the Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, to secure his status as the real leader of the opposition, meaning the Tories will lose a potential ally in parliamentary votes, and now Farage will be deciding whether to approach the Conservatives or not.