Democracy and Money · Campaign launch · 10 October 2026
The public should be able to see who funds political parties, how donations are checked and how potential conflicts are handled.
Publish the checks behind the money
We are asking political parties to publish a clear, dated account of their donation-checking and conflict-management policies. Where a policy is already public, we will link to it and assess its stated scope fairly.
Three findings worth looking beyond the headline for
A funder can explain much of a change
76.4%
Two corroborated Christopher Harborne gifts, together £12m, account for 76.4% of Reform’s £15.71m increase in disclosed non-public donations from 2024 to 2025. Removing them still leaves a £3.71m increase.
A large gift can offset a wider fall
£3m
The Conservatives’ disclosed non-public total fell by £15.00m over the same period. Removing the £3m recorded under Jeremy Elliott San’s donor ID from the comparison makes that fall £18.00m.
The largest funder is not the whole explanation
£0.59m
Labour’s largest 2025 donor-ID group was Unite the Union. That ID’s contribution fell by £0.59m, a small part of Labour’s £28.47m overall decrease in disclosed non-public donations.
These are calculations from our 9 October 2026 Electoral Commission snapshot, not total party income. They compare the 2024 election year with 2025. Public funds are excluded; bequests and non-cash support are included. Donor IDs are not always distinct people. A donation, a funding concentration or a change in receipts does not establish improper influence.
Read the investigation, exact figures, all-party calculations and limitations.
What about the money reported in 2026?
The explorer opens on 2026. Official January–June disclosures and selected later reported receipts, including the reported £72m for Reform in September, are labelled separately. They are incomplete year-to-date subtotals. They are not included in the 2024–2025 calculations above.
What we want parties to publish
- Checks: how the party verifies donor identity and eligibility, assesses the source of funds and handles higher-risk donations.
- Decisions: who authorises acceptance, escalates concerns and decides whether money should be declined or returned.
- Conflicts: how the party manages potential conflicts and prevents donations buying policy commitments or privileged influence.
We ask for policies and accountable processes, not private donor addresses, bank details or security-sensitive checking methods. This is CLA’s proposed publication standard, not a statement that the law already requires every item.
How we will record progress
Our first comparison covers the six party registrations with the largest disclosed non-public donation totals in our 2025 snapshot: Reform UK, the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Co-operative Party and Your Party. The selection rule is the same for every party. Other parties are welcome to provide their policies.
We will record the policy link and date, what it covers, the request and reply dates, and any substantive response. An unanswered request is not evidence of wrongdoing. Historical policies will be labelled with their dates; we will ask parties to confirm whether they remain current.
Open the party-policy and response tracker → — compare public documents, source dates and correspondence status. The tracker shows its last check date.
First requests sent
On 10 October 2026 we sent the same core policy questions to Reform UK, the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Co-operative Party and Your Party. We asked for replies by 26 October 2026. The first response update will distinguish published policies, substantive replies, requests for more time and unanswered requests.
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Civil Liberties Action is founder-led and is not a registered charity. The founder’s Labour Party membership, funding declaration and limits of review are published in our standards and interests statement.