This set of figures represent the amount of party funding received around the General Election, but it does not include the donations that fall below the £7,500 threshold. The many smaller sums are likely to have benefited Labour over the Tories. The largest single Tory donation came from the will of one person who left the party £1M but even so there is a huge disparity between these funds and inevatibly this has a bearing on the way in which votes are cast as some voters are persudaded by the nature of the leaflets they receive, the calls they hear and the adverts on TV and other media. When I stood as Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner in 2012 I spent £370 on my campaign. The winning candidate spent £37,000 which had an impact on people who had never met either of us. It is shocking that one County candidate spent 50% more in that election than the national  Green Party were gifted during the last General Election. That Katy Bourne spent more in her election than the whole of UKIP received in the 2017 General Election. We desperately need some more meaningful and effective controls over party funding!

With the exception of the £1m donor who is now dead, the balance came from people whose views will be listened to and acted upon over the next Parliament. This is corruption and deeply worrying.