Party accepted £3.68m in first three months of 2019, down from £7.4m in previous quarter

Donations to the Conservative party have fallen sharply, according to figures from the Electoral Commission.

The party accepted £3.68m between 1 January and 31 March from 220 separate donors, compared with £7.447m from 230 donors in the final quarter of 2018. In the first quarter of 2018, the Conservatives accepted nearly £5m from 234 donors.

Donations to Labour were also down but by a much smaller amount. Between 1 January and 31 March, Labour accepted more than £3.5m from 102 donors, compared with more than £3.7m from 90 donors in the final quarter of 2018.

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The Liberal Democrats accepted more than £1m from 106 donors, compared with £1.3m from 152 donors in the previous three months.

Some of the largest donations went to Labour: Unite gave the party nearly £540,000 in the first quarter of 2019 and Unison £326,000, with both donating more than they had in the final quarter of 2018.

The Conservatives’ biggest boost in the final quarter of 2018 came from the theatre producer John Gore, who gave the party £1.5m. The Tories did not receive any donations on the same scale in the first quarter of 2019, with their largest donation coming from Sir Michael Davis, the party’s chief executive and treasurer, who gave £316,000.

The Scottish National party was given £259,000 by five donors, while Ukip raised almost £118,000 from three donors, up from the £13,000 the party raised in the final quarter of 2018. The Greens received £59,000 from 14 donors, less than they managed in the final quarter of 2018, when they were given £113,000 from 20 donors.