Money buys access and influence

The basics

None of the routes below is illegal in itself. Giving money to a party, asking a minister to change a policy and owning a newspaper are all normal parts of a free society. The question is whether they give a small number of wealthy people a much louder voice than everyone else.

The obvious routes

The less obvious routes

How big is the problem?

Influence can't be measured directly, so these figures show how concentrated the money and ownership are. Figures are for the UK unless stated.

Not every measure points the same way

• Large donations are public. The regulator, the Electoral Commission, says the UK system has “high levels of transparency”. [2] Anyone can look up who gave what.
• Influence is hard to prove. An investigation by the website PoliticsHome in 2023 found many donors in the Lords, but no evidence that any of them had paid for access. [11]
• Lobbying is a normal part of democracy. Charities, unions, councils and community groups lobby as well as businesses. [7]
• Most people still get news from regulated broadcasters. Three-quarters of adults use at least one public service broadcaster for news, and the BBC alone reaches 67%. People who use television, radio and print rate them as more trustworthy than online users rate news online. [8]
• Big money is not confined to one party. In the three months before the 2024 election Labour raised £26.1 million and the Conservatives £16.1 million. [5]
• The rules are being tightened. A Bill introduced in February 2026 would add checks on where donations come from and restrict donations by companies with little connection to the UK. [15]

So the picture is mixed. Money and media ownership are clearly concentrated. Whether that concentration changes what governments do is much harder to show.

Recent examples, from all sides

These cases involve several parties, and both old and new media. In several of them no rule was broken, which is part of the point.

Does it depend on the party?

This section compares parties, not “left” and “right”, because where each party sits is itself disputed. Some argue that Labour has moved to the centre or the right in recent years and that the Green Party now speaks for the left. Labour rejects that. Whatever the labels, the money can be compared.

1. Parties in or close to power rely on big givers

   The Conservatives received £15 million from one businessman, Frank Hester, in 2023 and 2024. Labour's largest gift before the 2024 election was £4 million from a hedge fund, alongside £2.5 million from Lord Sainsbury. [5] The Liberal Democrats received £8 million from Lord Sainsbury in 2019 [13], and Reform UK £12 million from Christopher Harborne in 2025, as it led the other parties in donations. [2]

2. Labour's money has shifted from unions towards wealthy donors

   Trade unions founded Labour and were long its main funders. In the three months before the 2024 election they gave around £5.5 million of the £26.1 million the party raised. [5] In 2023, two individuals gave Labour more than all the trade unions combined. [20]

   Critics on the left see this as part of a wider move away from the party's roots. Supporters of the leadership at the time argued that Labour had to look beyond the unions to match Conservative spending. [20] Others point out that union money is itself a form of organised influence.

3. The Greens are funded differently, and on a far smaller scale

   In the same three months of 2024 the Green Party reported £238,851 in donations, about a hundredth of Labour's total. [5] Membership fees and gifts below £11,180 are not included in these figures, for any party. [2]

   That may show a party less dependent on wealthy backers. It may also reflect that a party with no prospect of forming a government has less access to offer. Its funding has not been tested by power at Westminster.

4. Access and honours: both parties of government have had scandals

   Involving the Conservatives: Greensill, the PPE priority lane, and peerages for party treasurers who had given more than £3 million. [21] Involving Labour: the gifts from Lord Alli to the party leader, and the Downing Street pass he was given. [10] The rules that allowed each of them were left in place by governments of both parties.

5. Media: ownership leans right, but broadcasting is regulated

   Newer outlets backed by wealthy owners, such as GB News and The Spectator, are on the right. [18] So, by general agreement, are the Daily Mail and The Sun, published by the two largest newspaper groups. The Media Reform Coalition argues that concentration gives a few publishers significant power to set the national news agenda. [3] The Sky News experiment on X points the same way. [19]

   Against that, television and radio news must be impartial, and it still reaches more people than any newspaper. [8] And one of the three big newspaper groups, Reach, publishes the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror.

How did we get here?

There is no single cause. These are the explanations that come up most often.

1. Donations were never capped, and campaigns got dearer

   What happened

   UK law limits what parties can spend at elections, but not what any one person can give. Transparency International UK says pressure to spend more has left parties reliant on a small number of very wealthy donors. [1]

   Why it matters

   A party that depends on a handful of people for most of its income has a strong reason to keep them happy, whether or not anything is ever asked for in return.

   What the evidence shows

   The think tank IPPR says gifts of £3 million or £4 million were once extremely rare and are now quite common, and that more millionaires are donating than ever before. [6]

2. The lobbying law left most lobbying out

   What happened

   A register of lobbyists was created in 2014, but only for consultants who lobby on behalf of paying clients. People who lobby for their own employer do not have to register. [9]

   Why it matters

   Most lobbying is done in-house, so the register shows only a small part of who is trying to influence government. [14]

   What the evidence shows

   MPs were told that of 22 lobbying registers studied by the OECD, 18 require in-house lobbyists to register. The UK's is an outlier. [14]

3. Media ownership concentrated, then moved online

   What happened

   Newspaper ownership has narrowed: the Media Reform Coalition says the national newspaper market has become 20% more concentrated since 2014. [3] At the same time, more people now get news online than from television, radio or print, and six in ten adults reach it through a social network, search engine or news app. [8]

   Why it matters

   Influence over what people read has moved from editors, who can be named and challenged, towards software owned by a few global companies, whose workings are not public.

   What the evidence shows

   Among 16 to 24-year-olds, three-quarters use social media for news. [8] Governments have acted on one kind of owner: in 2024 the government blocked a bid for the Telegraph backed by the United Arab Emirates, and foreign states are now limited to a 15% stake in a UK newspaper. [22]

4. Honours and appointments stayed in party hands

   What happened

   Party leaders choose most new members of the House of Lords, and there is no rule against choosing donors. [11]

   Why it matters

   A seat in the Lords is a seat in Parliament for life. If it appears to follow from a donation, people lose faith in both.

   What the evidence shows

   A 2021 investigation found that Conservative Party treasurers who gave more than £3 million had repeatedly been made peers. Ministers denied any wrongdoing, saying such people were nominated for their business and charitable work. [21] Selling honours is against the law.

Why is it hard to fix?

Most people agree that money should not buy political decisions. The difficulty is drawing a line between that and the ordinary business of politics.

1. Parties have to be paid for somehow

   The problem

   If large donations are capped, parties must find the money elsewhere, and more public funding for political parties is unlikely to be popular. The Bill before Parliament in 2026 does not cap donations. [23]

   A possible fix

   Cap donations and cut what campaigns are allowed to spend at the same time, so parties need less. Campaigners disagree on the level: IPPR has proposed £100,000 a year. [6]

2. Influence rarely leaves a receipt

   The problem

   A donation followed by a helpful decision proves nothing by itself. Even in the PPE case, the court found the firms would probably have won contracts without the priority lane. [17] Suspicion does damage whether or not it is justified.

   A possible fix

   More disclosure, so that people can judge for themselves. The government plans to require anyone giving over £11,180 to declare any benefit linked to the donation. [15]

3. Lobbying is legitimate, and everyone does it

   The problem

   Governments need to hear from the people their decisions affect. Rules tight enough to catch a former prime minister texting a minister could also burden a small charity writing to one. [7]

   A possible fix

   Widen the register to in-house lobbyists, as most comparable countries do [14], and publish fuller and faster records of who ministers meet.

4. A free press can be owned by anyone

   The problem

   Limiting who may own a newspaper, or telling a platform what to show, risks giving governments power over the media that criticise them. The biggest platforms are also owned abroad.

   A possible fix

   Rules on ownership are possible: the limit on foreign states shows that. [22] Other ideas include limits on how much of the market one owner can hold, and requiring platforms to explain how their systems choose what people see.

Where people disagree

The facts above are mostly agreed. What they add up to is not.

Sources and further reading

These sources support the facts and examples on this page. They explain the evidence, but they don't all share the same view of how serious the problem is or what should be done about it. Several are campaign groups or news reports, and are described as such.

1. Transparency International UK: New research reveals almost £1 in every £10 of political donations comes from unknown or questionable sources (2024) — an anti-corruption charity's analysis of donations reported since 2001: how concentrated they are, where they come from, and donors linked to access or honours.
2. Holyrood: Reform UK receives millions more from crypto investor (2026) — a report of Electoral Commission figures: donations to each party in late 2025, the Harborne donations, the reporting threshold, and the regulator's comment on transparency.
3. Media Reform Coalition: 2025 report – Who Owns the UK Media? (2025) — a campaign group's analysis of who owns national and local newspapers, broadcasters and the online platforms used for news.
4. Transparency International UK: The public demand is clear – cap big donations now (2026) — polling by More in Common on whether the public thinks wealthy donors influence government.
5. Express & Star (Press Association): Labour raised £10m more than Tories in three months before election (2024) — who gave what to Labour and the Conservatives from April to June 2024, including trade unions, a hedge fund, Lord Sainsbury and Frank Hester.
6. IPPR: Record £9 million donation to Reform UK shows why gifts to all parties should be capped (2025) — a think tank's view that very large donations have become more common, and its proposal for a cap.
7. Brunel University London: Lobbying and Influence – post-legislative scrutiny of the Lobbying Act 2014 and related matters, evidence from Professor Justin Fisher (2024) — the case that lobbying is a positive part of democratic life carried out by many kinds of organisation, and that the register covers little of it.
8. Ofcom: Top trends from our latest look at the UK's news habits (2025) — where people get their news, the reach of the BBC and other public service broadcasters, the use of social media, and how much each source is trusted.
9. Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists: Submission to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry into lobbying and influence (2022) — what the lobbying register covers, the exclusion of in-house lobbyists, and the finding on David Cameron and Greensill.
10. Express & Star (Press Association): Starmer faces possible probe over clothing donations to his wife (2024) — the gifts from Lord Alli, the rules on declaring them, and the Downing Street pass.
11. Left Foot Forward: You won't believe how much members of the House of Lords have donated to their political parties (2023) — a report of a PoliticsHome investigation: the share of new peers who were party donors, the absence of rules against it, and its finding of no evidence that donors paid for access.
12. Civil Service World: MPs put lobbying rules under the spotlight after Greensill scandal (2022) — the gaps in the disclosure rules, including lobbying by WhatsApp and at social meetings.
13. LBC: Reform receives record-breaking £9 million donation from Thai-based former Tory donor (2025) — the August 2025 donation and the previous record, held by Lord David Sainsbury's gift to the Liberal Democrats.
14. House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee: Oral evidence – Lobbying and Influence, post-legislative scrutiny of the Lobbying Act 2014 and related matters (2022) — evidence that most lobbying is done in-house, that few of those who meet ministers are on the register, and how other countries' registers compare.
15. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Representation of the People Bill 2026 – political funding (2026) — the proposed checks on donors, limits on company donations and declarations of benefits linked to donations.
16. SHP: Court rules government's PPE ‘VIP lane’ unlawful (2022) — who could refer suppliers to the priority lane, and the National Audit Office's finding on how much more often they won contracts.
17. BMJ: Covid-19 – Government's use of VIP lane for awarding PPE contracts was unlawful, says judge (2022) — the High Court ruling, including the judge's finding that the two firms would have been given priority anyway.
18. ABC News (Associated Press): Hedge fund investor snaps up UK's The Spectator magazine for $131 million (2024) — Sir Paul Marshall's purchase of The Spectator and his ownership of GB News and UnHerd.
19. Global Investigative Journalism Network: X's right-wing bias in UK (2025) — a summary of the Sky News experiment with nine test accounts and what political content they were shown.
20. openDemocracy: analysis of where Labour and the Conservatives got their money in 2023 (2024) — the shift in Labour's donations from trade unions towards companies and wealthy individuals, and the argument made for it.
21. PoliticsHome: Minister says House of Lords needs a “rich mix” of peers after Tory donor row (2021) — the Sunday Times and openDemocracy investigation into treasurers made peers, and the government's response.
22. Express & Star (Press Association): Telegraph to be bought by US firm RedBird Capital for £500m (2025) — the blocked bid backed by the United Arab Emirates and the 15% limit on foreign state ownership of newspapers.
23. Spotlight on Corruption: New Representation of the People Bill – still far to go to protect UK democracy (2026) — a campaign group's assessment of the Bill, including the absence of a cap on donations.