The Conservative party has suffered a collapse in the income it draws from membership fees as Labour and the Liberal Democrats see significant increases.
According to party accounts the money earned from their membership plummeted by more than 40 per cent in 2017.
By contrast membership income for the Labour party grew by around 12 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats saw theirs rise by almost a third.
The shocking figures will add to the concern over the Tory party’s dwindling activist base, not to mention a new entryism threat from supporters of the Brexit-backing Leave.EU group.
Papers produced by the party’s Central Office show that in 2016 it received slightly less than £1.5 million from its membership, but that this figure dropped by some 43 per cent to just £835,000 in 2017 – the year Theresa May lost the party’s majority at an election.
The bulk of the Conservatives’ £45.9 million income came instead from more than £34 million worth of donations – a large increase of more than 80 per cent in the election year – with chunks coming from wealthy backers.
The Labour Party’s account showed that it took just over £14 million from its membership in 2016, rising to over £16 million in 2017, an increase of 12 per cent.
It also saw the money it gained from donations increase by about 25 per cent to more than £18 million in 2017.