Analysis by former treasurer candidate shows cost of lurch to right and uninspiring leadership
Analysis of the Labour party’s income since Keir Starmer took over as leader, carried out by a recent candidate for the position of party treasurer, has revealed a gaping – and widening – hole in its finances.
A summary of donations to the Labour party shows – apart from a blip caused by donations for Labour’s 2019 general election campaign under Corbyn that were not registered until January last year – a sharp decline from 2020 onwards:
The fall becomes even clearer when a summary is added to the information compiled by Esther Giles:
The party has lost many tens of thousands of members – and accordingly their subscription fees and donations – since Keir Starmer became leader, with that number reportedly accelerating as Starmer’s assault on free speech has intensified.
And the Unite union, the party’s biggest donor under Corbyn, stopped its donations entirely in early 2020 and had not resumed them up to the most recent report:
By Giles’s calculations, there was a £2.5m deficit in the party’s finances in 2020 – and she expects this to worsen in 2021 – by another £1m or more and around £2m in membership subs – with lower ‘Short money’ from parliament also reducing Labour’s income. Excluding the peak in funding due to election contributions recorded in January 2020, the average donations in 2020 (adjusted to four quarters) are the equivalent of £3.7m lower than the mean funding in 2018 and 2019.
Giles estimated that the ongoing deterioration of member donations will lead to a further fall of as much as £3 million this year:
Giles’s figures do not include the payout of around £600,000 to right-wing ‘whistleblowers’ made by Starmer to settle a legal case the party was set to win. She told the SKWAWKBOX:
On the current trajectory, they have 3-5 years before they have to start selling assets or taking on loans.
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