General election 2019: Tories top donation list for first election week

The Conservatives have raised £5.7m in the first week of the official election campaign, according to the Electoral Commission.

The Tories received 87% of registered donations in that period, figures show, while Labour raised a total of £218,500.

The Lib Dems received £275,000, whilst the Brexit Party raised £250,000.

But the figures do not represent all donations, as only those above £7,500 have to be reported.

The biggest gift to the Tories was £1.5m from theatre producer and regular donor John Gore.

Meanwhile the biggest donation to Labour was £62,000 from the Unite union, led by Jeremy Corbyn ally Len McCluskey.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said the figures for registered donations showed an “astonishing gap in fundraising”.

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Another Tory donor, Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a former minister for Russian President Vladimir Putin, gave £200,000 in the same period.

In total 47% of the party’s donations came from individuals, with the remainder coming from companies.

The Green Party raised £30,000 during the first campaign week, half the £60,000 raised by the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

This is the first UK-wide election when pre-poll donations and loan reports have been published for parties in Northern Ireland.

Donations received during the other weeks of the five-week official election campaign will be detailed in later releases.