The video will start in 8 Cancel

What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Fat cat donors are helping the Conservative Party fundraise nearly £19,000 an hour to keep Theresa May in Downing Street.

Bankers, business tycoons and hedge fund bosses make up this list of millionaire donors who have each pumped at least £100,000 into the Tory war chest since the election campaign began.

Figures from the Electoral Commission show the Tory Party raised £9.5million from donations between May 3 and 23 - more than all other parties combined and equivalent to £18,888 an hour.

Labour was a distant second with £3.4million over the same period, although this figure does not include small donations from the party's online fundraising appeals.

Here, we look at the Conservative Party's biggest donors since May 3...

John Gore - £1million

(Image: Getty Images North America)

Super-rich theatre producer Mr Gore has provided the largest single donation to the Conservatives during the campaign so far.

The tycoon, who went to the elite Harrow School, found success in the US as owner and chief executive of Key Brand Entertainment.

The company has put on Tony Award-winning productions of Chicago, Hairspray and Memphis.

John Griffin - £900,000

John Griffin is the founder of private hire company Addison Lee, which has a turnover of more than £200million.

He handed Mrs May's party £900,000 on May 4.

Mr Griffin, 74, whose net worth is estimated at £140million, appeared on The Secret Millionaire in December 2006.

John Armitage - £1million

(Image: barrons.com)

Hedge fund manager John Armitage gave £500,000 on May 8 and another £500,000 on May 22.

Mr Armitage, who runs Egerton Capital, has a net worth of £500million.

He made a killing in 2015 by betting against crashing energy stocks.

Fitriani Hay - £125,000

(Image: Getty)

Mrs Hay and her Glaswegian husband Jim are worth £305million and made their fortune in oil and horseracing.

Indonesian-born Mrs Hay and her husband bought Harold Macmillan's former residence ion Sussex for £25million in 2011.

They also have links to fashion and asset management companies.

Malcolm Healy - £100,000

(Image: Hull Daily Mail)

Mr Healy, worth £1.48billion alongside his brother Eddie, owns West Retail Group, which includes Wren Kitchens and EBuyer.

He wrote a £100,000 cheque for the Tories on May 4.

Mr Healy was handed an OBE for community services in 2007 for his charity and youth work.

Bruce Hardy McLain - £100,000

He is co-founder and managing partner of CVC Capital Partners, a private equity company set up in 1981.

He donated £10,000 to the Vote Leave campaign in March last year ahead of the Brexit referendum.

Matthew Ferrey - £100,000

A chemical engineer who became a senior partner at oil company Vitol, Mr Ferrey has donated hundreds of thousands to the Tories over the years.

He went on to found Ranworth Capital, a holding company for engineering investments, and is also involved in property development.

Andrew Law - £250,000

(Image: Desmond O'Neill Features)

Hedge fund manager Andrew Law, whose wife Zoe is a makeup artist to the stars, helped to organise the Tories' infamous black and white ball and shelled out a quarter of a million pounds.

Mr Law was the party's 11th biggest donor between 2010 and 2015.

He is chairman and chief executive of London Caxton Associates.

John Roberts - £150,000

Mr Roberts handed over a whopping £150,000 to the Conservative Party on May 10.

This was his first and, to date, only political donation ever in the UK.

His occupation and source of wealth are not known.

Steven Parkin - £250,000

Logistics mogul Mr Parkin made two separate donations of £125,000 in May.

He is now worth £250million after setting up Clipper Logistics in 1992.

He left school at 16 with no qualifications and worked as a miner before making his fortune.

Lord Sainsbury - £100,000

(Image: PA Wire)

Tory peer John Davan Sainsbury, president of supermarket Sainsbury's, became a member of the House of Lords in 1989.

He is the older brother of David Sainsbury, Labour's former science minister.

He wrote a £100,000 cheque for the Tories on May 11.

Michael Lewis - £100,000

Mr Lewis is a fund manager and the former vice-president of the pro-Israel lobbying group Bicom.

He also donated to Liam Fox's unsuccessful 2005 bid for leadership of the Conservative Party.

He also handed cash to Dr Fox's now-defunct Atlantic Bridge charity.

David Rowland - £200,000

(Image: Associated Newspapers)

Multimillionaire property tycoon David Rowland, who was due to become fundraiser-in-chief for the Tories, gave £200,000.

Me Rowland, along with his son, is now estimated to be worth more than £730m - a sum that makes them jointly the 25th richest people in the country title.

Mark Coombs - £300,000

Mr Coombs, 57, led a management takeover of investment giant Ashmore in 1999 and hasn't looked back since.

He is now worth £1.15billion and last year donated £750,000 to the remain campaign ahead of the Brexit referendum.

Michael Freeman - £100,000

Mr Freeman, said to be worth £130million, is co-founder of property developers Argent Group.

His wife Clara is a former director of Marks and Spencer.

Mr Freeman has donated hundreds of thousands to the Conservative Party over the years.

Peter Kane - £100,000

Super-rich Mr Kane handed over £100,000 on May 3 in the early days of the campaign.

He has made numerous donations to the Tories over the years, dating back to 2002.

Joyce Edwardson Glover - £125,000

Very little information is known about this donor.

She handed over £125,000 to the party on May 5. Her occupation and the source of her wealth are not clear.