Prior to the publication of the Sunday Times Richlist on 26th April, the newspaper has published a brief Political Richlist, that discusses about the millionaires who made the biggest donations to political parties over the last five years. It has also revealed our wealthiest MPs and the richest members of the House of Lords.
The Rich List team research has showed that in Britain, out of 76 of the 1,000 richest people in The Sunday Times Rich List — each is donating more than £250,000 during the course of the Parliament — that accounts for 41% of all individual and corporate donations.
In total, 197 people who have featured in Rich Lists between 2011 and 2015 contributed £82.4m, just under half of the £174.7m donated in private and corporate cash. 25 gave more than £1m. Seven donors gave more than £2m.
The Tories come out on top in the political giving stakes. In the past five years, they are the main recipients of political giving for 151 of the 197 Rich List donors — more than three-quarters of the total.
Labour follows up of course with trade union donations. The unions have contributed more than £52.6m to political parties since 2010, the vast majority of it — £51.7m — to Labour.
Labour has two supporters in the £1m-plus club, out of which one is an Asian. The steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, gave £1m in 2010, ahead of the last general election.
In the million-pound club, the Liberal Democrats have Asian origin, Lord Rumi Verjee also has made a considerable contribution.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing, but seven of the 10 biggest donors across parties, have been ennobled, knighted or received a CBE since January 2010 — four working peers including Lord Verjee, plus two honoured for services to the arts and philanthropy and transport and the voluntary sector.
The list of wealthiest members of the Lords includes Lord Paul and family with a fortune of £2.2bn, ranked second. Out of the seven richest Mps, there is no mention of any Asian names so far.
The full list of 197 political donors from the 2011-2015 Rich Lists will appear in Sunday Times on 26th April.
