Parties
Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats · Money map

Who actually funds the Liberal Democrats

Every declared donation to the Liberal Democrats on the Electoral Commission register, aggregated by year, by donor type, by sector and by accounting unit. The headline number on the policy page is £124,006,335 across 14,637 declared donations from 3,973 distinct donors. The figures below are the decomposition.

By donor type

The most diagnostic single decomposition. Tells you who actually owns the party.

Donor typeDonationsTotal% of all-time
Individual8,647£63m50.8%
Public Fund529£28m22.5%
Company1,674£21.2m17.1%
Unincorporated Association3,497£8.1m6.6%
Trust183£2.7m2.2%
Limited Liability Partnership42£842k0.7%
Impermissible Donor54£103k0.1%
Trade Union1£32k0.0%
Unidentifiable Donor9£18k0.0%
Friendly Society1£11k0.0%

Year by year

Declared total per calendar year. Election years and leadership-change years usually spike.

YearDonationsTotalScale
2026315£2.9m
20251,206£8.3m
20241,628£13.3m
20231,127£8.1m
2022819£5.9m
2021767£4.5m
2020606£4.6m
20191,091£20.1m
2018453£4.3m
2017957£7.8m
2016578£7.5m
2015602£4.7m
2014513£3.4m
2013296£2.2m
2012277£1.7m
2011300£2.4m
2010453£3m
2009596£3.8m
2008456£2.6m
2007317£1.9m
2006296£2.4m
2005334£4.6m
2004216£1.4m
2003191£1.3m
200295£348k
2001148£750k

Where the money landed · accounting unit

Money that lands at Central HQ funds the party machine. Money that lands at a constituency association funds a single seat. The mix tells you whether the party is centrally bankrolled or locally rooted.

WhereDonationsTotal% of all-time
Central HQ2,152£68m54.8%
Constituency-level11,726£38m30.7%
Parliamentary office240£13.6m10.9%
Regional / liaison406£3.5m2.8%
Other113£899k0.7%

Top funding sectors

Donor names matched against the site’s sector classifier. Untagged donors (individuals, generic companies) are not included — this is the political-economy view.

SectorDistinct donorsTotal
Finance31£5.3m
Pharma1£998k
Property34£442k
Media10£229k
Tech8£133k
Trade union1£32k

Top 30 donors · lifetime

#DonorTypeDonationsLifetime total
1Lord David SainsburyIndividual5£10.1m
2House Of Commons Fees Office.Public Fund68£7.8m
3House of Commons Fees OfficePublic Fund26£4.8m
4Electoral Commission.Public Fund16£4.2m
5THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE REFORM TRUST LIMITEDCompany161£2.7m
65th Avenue Partners LtdCompany3£2.3m
7House of Commons Fees officePublic Fund40£2.1m
8Electoral CommissionPublic Fund9£2m
9House of Lords Fees Office.Public Fund57£1.9m
10Mark E PettersonIndividual148£1.7m
11ADAM MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LTDCompany45£1.2m
12Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust LtdCompany37£1m
13House of Lords Fees OfficePublic Fund28£1m
14Mr David TillesIndividual2£1m
15Mr Gregory NasmythIndividual1£1m
16Ferring Pharmaceuticals LtdCompany7£998k
17Sudhir ChoudhrieIndividual132£976k
18House of Lords Fees officePublic Fund35£948k
19Joseph Rowntree Reform TrustCompany11£823k
20Andrew DixonIndividual37£782k
21Dinesh DhamijaIndividual60£757k
22David G StevensIndividual37£713k
23TREEMAN ROCKAFELLA LIMITEDCompany4£700k
24Elizabeth A DesmondIndividual53£690k
25Giee DawsonIndividual46£684k
26Justinian J AshIndividual24£683k
27Department of Finance and AdministrationPublic Fund4£647k
28Ms Melissa JohnsonIndividual18£638k
29John Faulkner (dec'd)Individual2£625k
30Ministry of Sound LtdCompany39£618k

All-time, all accounting units. Includes both monetary donations and non-cash benefits.