Elon Musk: Government urged to cap political donations at £100K

The Tesla and X owner has begun to comment on UK politics more frequently, including criticising Sir Keir Starmer during the summer riots.

Reports around his possible multi-million pound donation come as more money is being pumped into political parties.

In 2023, there were more donations over £1m than ever before, IPPR has said.

Before 2017, such donations never totalled £10m to a single party in a year, but since then, the thinktank found, that mark has been passed four times.

In 2023, £1m-plus donations to the two main UK parties totalled close to £50m.

The report also calls for the rules to be significantly tightened around shell companies and “unincorporated associations”, which IPPR says can easily be used to channel illegitimate or foreign funding into UK politics.

Another recommendation is that no person or business who enters into a contract with a UK government department or agency should be allowed to donate to a political party or candidate.

This would have likely prevented Leeds-based businessman, Frank Hester, from making record £15m donations to the Conservatives since 2023.

Mr Hester, who is chief executive of the Horsforth healthcare company The Phoenix Partnership, came to prominence for saying Diane Abbott, the first black female MP, should be shot.

His company has previously held £135m in contracts with the Department for Health and Social Care.

Harry Quilter-Pinner, IPPR interim executive director, said: “Political donations have doubled in UK in real terms since 2000, and even more concerning is the recent huge increase in ‘mega-donors’ giving more than £1m to one party in a year.

“This undermines trust in democracy and makes people feel their vote doesn’t count. No one person should be able to give more than £100,000 a year to a political party, to lower the risk that the concentration of highly wealthy individuals or big business skewed our political system.”