Labour MPs want a cap on political donations to stave off Nigel Farage’s big-money backers. Andy Burnham is set to disappoint them. Downing Street will not include a universal domestic cap on political donations in Britain when the elections bill returns on Sept. 2, two officials briefed on government thinking said.
But both the officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss policy considerations, did not rule out returning to the issue again in the future. That’s despite mounting pressure to act from the British PM’s own MPs as they fret about Farage, whose rise has been aided by a flurry of cash from individual donors — and hints from Burnham himself that he is minded to move ahead. There is currently no limit on the amount individual donors based in the U.K. can give to a political party.
Donations above £11,180 must be reported to the Electoral Commission watchdog. Burnham told transparency campaigners before becoming prime minister that he supported a cap to “guard against the perception of any one party being unduly influenced or swayed by one person or organisation.” While indicating a wider review of political funding would be required before setting a firm figure, Burnham said his “gut feeling would suggest somewhere in the region of £500k” for the upper limit. Following Burnham’s arrival in No. 10 Downing Street in July, officials in Whitehall had been waiting for a signal that they should start work to include a donation cap in the Representation of the People Bill — the official title of the elections bill.
But the two officials quoted above said using that bill as the vehicle for a cap could delay plans also included in the legislation to give 16-year-olds the right to vote at the next general election. A third British official acknowledged the Sept. 2 date, when the elections bill returns, is a “crunch point,” and suggested ministers could “kick the can” and commit to considering action when the bill gets to the House of Lords. A Labour MP pushing for a donations cap said the arguments being put forward for not going ahead with a donations cap are “bullshit,” adding: “They are scared of the unions.” A POLITICO analysis of how a £500,000 donation cap would have hit the main political parties’ finances over the last three years demonstrates the trade-offs Burnham would face in pushing ahead.
The analysis draws on publicly-available Electoral Commission returns for Westminster’s main political parties between Jan. 1 2023 and Dec. 31, 2025. It shows a £500,000 ceiling would have curbed 55 percent of Reform UK’s reported private donations over the past three years — amounting to some £12 million — suggesting Nigel Farage’s party would have taken the greatest hit of any of the parties in proportional terms over the period. But the data also shows there is potential peril for Labour in slamming a lid on funding — particularly if cash from trade unions, which represent some of the party’s major backers, is included.
A £500,000 cap over the same period — with no union exclusion — would have wiped out 47.4 percent of all private donations to Labour, or around £34 million in funding. An exemption from the cap for unions would leave Labour’s war chest significantly stronger. Labour would have kept hold of £12 million of that money over the same period, which included the donation-rich run-up to the 2024 general election.
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