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Money the regulator caught · Returned donations
Impermissible donations to UK parties
123 declared donations totalling £358,666 were ruled impermissible under UK law and either returned to the donor or forfeited to the Consolidated Fund. The most common reason is that the donor was not registered on a UK electoral roll at the time of giving. The list runs from honest administrative slips to instances where the recipient party accepted untraceable direct bank transfers and could not verify the source before the deadline.
By reason
| Reason | Donations | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Impermissible (no reason given) | 68 | £207,066 |
| Donor not on UK electoral register | 44 | £81,892 |
| Other | 7 | £55,499 |
| Address not verifiable | 2 | £8,459 |
| Donation from charity | 1 | £4,500 |
| Company not actively trading | 1 | £1,250 |
Recipients caught accepting impermissible most often
| # | Recipient | Donations | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liberal Democrats | 45 | £81,718 |
| 2 | Conservative and Unionist Party | 36 | £168,516 |
| 3 | British National Party [De-registered 08/01/16] | 9 | £3,343 |
| 4 | Women's Equality Party [De-registered 31/12/24] | 4 | £6,957 |
| 5 | UK Independence Party (UKIP) | 3 | £8,000 |
| 6 | Green Party | 2 | £12,893 |
| 7 | Reform UK | 2 | £8,459 |
| 8 | Momentum Campaign (Services) Ltd | 2 | £3,500 |
| 9 | Best for Britain Limited | 1 | £25,000 |
| 10 | Right to Vote | 1 | £10,000 |
| 11 | The Blair Must Go Party [De-registered 29/05/07] | 1 | £8,200 |
| 12 | The Respect Party [De-registered 18/08/16] | 1 | £4,636 |
| 13 | Mr Andrew Mitchell MP | 1 | £4,000 |
| 14 | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 1 | £2,000 |
| 15 | The Rt Hon Edward Miliband MP | 1 | £1,480 |
| 16 | Shaun Bailey | 1 | £1,250 |
| 17 | The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP | 1 | £1,000 |
| 18 | The Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP | 1 | £1,000 |
| 19 | Ms Angela Rayner MP | 1 | £1,000 |
| 20 | Campaign Together Limited | 1 | £1,000 |
| 21 | Mr Kenneth Livingstone | 1 | £1,000 |
| 22 | Labour Party | 1 | £900 |
| 23 | Carlton Club Political Committee | 1 | £750 |
| 24 | Dawn Butler MP | 1 | £600 |
| 25 | Leave.EU Group Ltd | 1 | £599 |
Largest impermissible donations
| Donor | Recipient | Returned | Amount | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Joanna Kate Fleming - originally reported: RF Trustee Co Ltd | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2010-08-17 | £100,000 | Impermissible |
| Sir Clive Cowdery | Best for Britain Limited | £25,000 | When the cash donation from Sir Clive was originally accepted he and we noted that he had been registered to vote for some time and had no reason to believe he was not still registered. However, we subsequently discovered that his registration had lapsed w | |
| Dudley Port & Ocker Hill Primrose League | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2010-05-25 | £23,281 | Impermissible |
| Inshmore Properties Ltd | Liberal Democrats | 2019-12-04 | £16,000 | Unable to confirm donor was an actively trading company |
| The British Council | Green Party | 2004-03-15 | £12,643 | Impermissible |
| Hugh Macpherson Cameron Fraser | Right to Vote | 2019-03-15 | £10,000 | Donor is not on UK electoral register |
| Simon Martin | Liberal Democrats | 2019-10-13 | £9,000 | donor fell off of the Register whilst moving house |
| Mr Jimmy Walter | The Blair Must Go Party [De-registered 29/05/07] | 2005-05-23 | £8,200 | Impermissible |
| George Morrison | Reform UK | 2021-01-04 | £7,459 | inability to verify the donor's address |
| Miss R E Finey | Liberal Democrats | 2005-09-04 | £6,380 | Impermissible |
| Mr Roger Fletcher | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2007-11-16 | £5,900 | Impermissible |
| Michael Nicholson | Liberal Democrats | 2017-05-02 | £5,000 | Not on Uk Electoral Register |
| James Preston | Liberal Democrats | 2017-05-02 | £5,000 | Not on Uk Electoral Register |
| Richard Cleary | UK Independence Party (UKIP) | 2018-12-03 | £5,000 | Unable to confirm inclusion on an electoral register. |
| Gregs Properties Ltd | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2005-10-19 | £5,000 | Impermissible |
| Khansaheb Civil Engineering | The Respect Party [De-registered 18/08/16] | 2007-01-23 | £4,636 | Impermissible |
| A Daneza | Conservative and Unionist Party | £4,500 | Not on electoral register at time | |
| University of Essex | Liberal Democrats | £4,500 | This is a donation from a charity, therefore impermissible | |
| Andrew Dixon | Liberal Democrats | 2017-11-15 | £4,200 | Returned due to impermissible donation |
| Mrs Nancy Broadbent | Mr Andrew Mitchell MP | 2007-11-15 | £4,000 | Impermissible |
| Eve Ensler | Women's Equality Party [De-registered 31/12/24] | 2015-12-22 | £3,357 | Impermissible donor - donor not registered on an electoral register. |
| James Greenbury | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2021-01-08 | £3,000 | Not registered |
| Gilbey Strub | Women's Equality Party [De-registered 31/12/24] | 2015-11-26 | £2,500 | Impermissible donor, at the time the donation was received the donor was not registered on the electoral register. |
| Mihir Magudia | Liberal Democrats | 2018-06-17 | £2,500 | Not permissible due to moving house and no longer being on electoral register |
| Mr Mohammed R Nabi | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2010-02-19 | £2,500 | Impermissible |
| Zhenze Yang | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2019-12-24 | £2,310 | Not on electoral register |
| Mr Doug Ward | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2010-06-06 | £2,025 | Impermissible |
| Adam Smith | Liberal Democrats | 2020-01-10 | £2,000 | donor was not on the Electoral Register |
| Colin Phillips | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2005-06-10 | £2,000 | Impermissible |
| Paul Shea | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2006-08-12 | £2,000 | Impermissible |
| Tung Lam | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 2017-10-16 | £2,000 | Individual not on the electoral register |
| Mark Bedingham | Liberal Democrats | 2017-05-03 | £2,000 | Not on Uk Electoral Register |
| K M Cubitt | UK Independence Party (UKIP) | 2017-06-29 | £2,000 | Informed not on the electoral register |
| Philip Lee | Momentum Campaign (Services) Ltd | 2020-04-26 | £1,750 | Not on the electoral register |
| Emma Lee | Momentum Campaign (Services) Ltd | 2020-04-26 | £1,750 | Not on the electoral register |
| Niharika Aram | Liberal Democrats | 2017-05-06 | £1,500 | Not on Uk Electoral Register |
| Ab Majid | Liberal Democrats | £1,500 | Not on UK Electoral Register | |
| Mrs Ragad Altikriti | The Rt Hon Edward Miliband MP | 2010-09-19 | £1,480 | Impermissible |
| Dounia Nadar | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2019-03-05 | £1,400 | not on register at time of donation |
| Mr Louis Elson | Shaun Bailey | 2018-10-04 | £1,250 | Individual not on the electoral register. |
| The Broad Gallery Limited | Liberal Democrats | 2019-01-22 | £1,250 | Company was no longer trading |
| Northwolds Investments Limited | Liberal Democrats | 2010-03-03 | £1,000 | Impermissible |
| Ms Noel Harwerth | The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP | 2007-06-17 | £1,000 | Impermissible |
| Walter Paterson | Liberal Democrats | 2021-01-29 | £1,000 | Donor not on electoral roll at time of donation due to moving house |
| Walter Paterson | Liberal Democrats | 2021-01-29 | £1,000 | Donor not on electoral roll at time of donation due to moving house |
| Alexander Brotherton | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2021-01-07 | £1,000 | Not registered |
| Jacob Polny | The Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP | 2019-07-21 | £1,000 | Donor not registered on the electoral register |
| Sharad Patel | Ms Angela Rayner MP | 2020-05-18 | £1,000 | Not on register |
| Gerry Calderhead | Liberal Democrats | 2019-11-18 | £1,000 | overseas donor not on the electoral register |
| Nicholas P Howard | Conservative and Unionist Party | 2005-05-11 | £1,000 | Impermissible |