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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 £127,094,633 across 15,096 declared donations from 3,991 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 total
Individual8,891£64.4m50.7%
Public Fund546£28.9m22.7%
Company1,720£21.6m17.0%
Unincorporated Association3,647£8.5m6.7%
Trust185£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. Totals usually spike in election years and in years when the leader changes.

YearDonationsTotalScale
2026660£5.2m
20251,211£8.3m
20241,630£13.3m
20231,141£8.2m
2022835£6m
2021777£4.5m
2020613£4.6m
20191,114£20.4m
2018457£4.4m
2017972£7.9m
2016591£7.6m
2015607£4.8m
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 total
Central HQ2,023£65.6m51.6%
Constituency associations10,864£35.4m27.9%
Parliamentary office227£12.1m9.5%
Other1,604£10.9m8.5%
Regional / liaison378£3.1m2.5%

Top funding sectors

Donor names matched against the site’s sector classifier. Untagged donors (individuals, generic companies) are not included; this view shows which parts of the economy fund the party.

SectorDistinct donorsTotal
Finance33£5.3m
Pharma1£998k
Property34£454k
Media10£234k
Tech8£135k
Trade union1£32k

Top 30 donors · lifetime

#DonorTypeDonationsLifetime total
1Lord David SainsburyIndividual5£10.1m
2House Of Commons Fees Office.Public Fund70£8.4m
3House of Commons Fees OfficePublic Fund26£4.8m
4Electoral Commission.Public Fund16£4.2m
5THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE REFORM TRUST LIMITEDCompany164£2.8m
65th Avenue Partners LtdCompany3£2.3m
7House of Commons Fees officePublic Fund41£2.2m
8House of Lords Fees Office.Public Fund59£2.1m
9Electoral CommissionPublic Fund9£2m
10Mark E PettersonIndividual156£1.8m
11ADAM MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LTDCompany45£1.2m
12House of Lords Fees OfficePublic Fund29£1.1m
13Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust LtdCompany37£1m
14Sudhir ChoudhrieIndividual140£1m
15Mr David TillesIndividual2£1m
16Mr Gregory NasmythIndividual1£1m
17Ferring Pharmaceuticals LtdCompany7£998k
18House of Lords Fees officePublic Fund36£974k
19Dinesh DhamijaIndividual62£858k
20Joseph Rowntree Reform TrustCompany11£823k
21Andrew DixonIndividual38£794k
22David G StevensIndividual40£773k
23Elizabeth A DesmondIndividual56£718k
24TREEMAN ROCKAFELLA LIMITEDCompany4£700k
25Ms Melissa JohnsonIndividual19£688k
26Giee DawsonIndividual46£684k
27Justinian J AshIndividual24£683k
28Department of Finance and AdministrationPublic Fund4£647k
29John Faulkner (dec'd)Individual2£625k
30Ministry of Sound LtdCompany39£618k

Every year on record, all accounting units. Includes both monetary donations and benefits in kind.