Tory leadership hopefuls declare another £185,000 in donations
Robert Jenrick remains the front-runner in terms of fundraising, but Kemi Badenoch has closed the gap on her rival.
The remaining Conservative leadership hopefuls declared £185,000 of donations to their campaigns in the first two weeks of October, new figures have shown.
The latest update to the MPs’ register of interests, published on Wednesday, showed Kemi Badenoch had declared £130,136 of support since the end of September, while Robert Jenrick had declared £55,000.
The declarations cover donations to the two campaigns made in September.
Ms Badenoch’s donors include businessmen and financiers, with the most significant donations consisting of £25,000 from private equity boss Wol Kolade and £20,000 from investor Charles Keymer.
Mr Keymer is now Ms Badenoch’s largest donor, having given her campaign £60,000 as well as providing her constituency association with £10,000 since the General Election.
Other donors to Ms Badenoch’s campaign include historian Lord Andrew Roberts, who gave £10,000, and former trade minister Lord Dominic Johnson, who hosted a campaign event valued at £2,248.
Mr Jenrick declared just two donations in Wednesday’s update to the register, the largest being £30,000 from former Spectator owner Sir Henry Keswick.
He also received £25,000 from Access Industries (UK) Ltd, a company owned by billionaire Tory donor Sir Len Blavatnik.
Sir Len, who holds both British and American citizenship, is also a significant donor to the US Republican Party, but has also given money to Democrats including Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Although the latest register shows significantly more donations for Ms Badenoch, Mr Jenrick remains the Tory leadership contender with the largest war chest, having declared almost £450,000 in donations compared to the former business secretary’s £340,000.
James Cleverly, the former home secretary who was eliminated in the final round of voting by MPs despite coming top of the ballot in the previous round, declared £102,500 in donations in the first two weeks of October, bringing the total raised by his campaign to a little more than £250,000.
