THE Tories are facing a £25 million funding shortfall as their usual donors view backing a clearly losing horse as “pointless”, according to reports.
The party’s finances are so poor that it has been forced to use its overdraft just to pay staff, Bloomberg reported.
After Rishi Sunak took over as Prime Minister in October and appointed Nadhim Zahawi as Tory chairman, there was a £5m black hole in the party’s finances.
But Zahawi has been fired as party chair after improper handling of his personal tax affairs came to light, and Sunak has yet to fill the post.
US news website Bloomberg reported that the Tories’ “reputation for competence and stability was trashed last year when they ousted two prime ministers, sank the pound, and roiled the bond market”.
The annus horribilis for the Conservatives has been reflected in the polls, which regularly puts them more than 20 points behind Labour.
YouGov’s latest Westminster voting intention poll, run from January 31 to February 1, put Labour on 48% of the vote and the Tories on just 24%.
After speaking to traditional Tory funders, Bloomberg reported that “donations to the Tory campaign are seen as pointless” with Labour looking almost certain to take control at the next General Election.
The news site reported: “Pro-Remain donors are unhappy with Brexit. Pro-Brexit donors are unhappy with how it’s been delivered. Pro-Boris Johnson donors are upset at his removal from power. Johnson-skeptic ones closed their wallets after the ‘Partygate’ saga that helped bring him down. Pro-Liz Truss donors are depressed about the implosion of her tax-cutting premiership. And other donors are furious at the Tories for the chaos over which they have presided.”
Electoral Commission data from 2022 shows that donations to the Conservatives dipped by 45% from the second to third quarter of the year, while Labour’s donations increased over the same period.
Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour agreed to underwrite millions of pounds of donations to stop the party from going under after being made senior party treasurer by Sunak, according to reports.
