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Labour HQ was shocked and delighted to discover the party had raised £4m during the first two weeks of the election campaign, while the beleaguered Tories managed just £290,000.
But according to a Labour donor who used to raise funds for the party, the adage “when power shifts, so too does the money” rings true.
“Fundraising is a reflection of a very few committed people who are rich and then there is a bigger group of people who become very much more amenable to fundraising when it looks like you might win,” he said.
“Whether it’s because they want to back a winner or because the party has got the public mood is always difficult to say.”
Donations of more than £11,180 – a sum that recently increased from £7,500 – must be reported to and published by the Electoral Commission and the turnaround in Labour’s fortunes with large financial backers could not be more stark. Over the decade until Keir Starmer became leader, Labour had lost more than 95% of its big private donors, according to party sources involved in raising cash.