Revealed: Labour MPs in Yorkshire received almost £200,000 in union donations for general election

Sir Keir Starmer has also pledged to repeal the Minimum Service Levels Act and the Trade Union Act, which were brought in by the Tories to make it harder for unions to organise strikes.

In total, Yorkshire MPs were given £195,524 in donations from seven unions, according to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests for the new Parliament.

Unite donated the most, £80,000 to 12 different MPs, while Unison was the second biggest donor at £38,223.

Neither Aslef, the train drivers’ union, or the British Medical Association (BMA), which represents junior doctors, donated any money, as neither is affiliated with the Labour Party.

Richard Burgon, the now independent MP for Leeds East who was a Labour candidate at the general election, received the highest of donations at £15,000.

This included £5,000 from the RMT Union, which represents rail workers, which is currently in annual pay talks with the government.

Union leaders met with Department for Transport officials yesterday, after general secretary Mick Lynch said it would be seeking similar remuneration promised to Aslef to end the long-running train driver strikes.

The figures showed the Transport Secretary Louise Haigh received a £10,000 donation from Unite around the time of the election.

A Labour spokesperson said: “All donations are declared in accordance with Parliamentary and Electoral Commission rules.”

Unions have traditionally been the Labour Party’s biggest donors, and have been closely tied since the start of the 20th century.

Affiliated unions elect members onto the powerful National Executive Committee and also can send delegates to the party conference.

Although under Sir Keir’s leadership, big business and individual donations have overtaken trade unions as Labour’s biggest funders.

Unions will often donate to members who are standing as candidates, although they may liaise with local parties to help out candidates in swing seats.

Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, who received a £4,000 donation from the RMT, said she was “proud” that “trade unions remain the foundations of our party”.

She told the Yorkshire Post: “The Labour Party grew out of the trade unions to take forward the interests of working people.

“Trade unions have always made donations to local Labour Parties to support elections, and I am proud of my long association with the RMT, Unite and all unions.

“I was the Head of Health at Unite for many years, taking forward their work to improve working conditions for staff and ensuring the NHS remained in the hands of the state, not private companies. It is these values which shape my politics today.”

The Tories have accused Labour of prioritising union deals over policies like the winter fuel payment.

Shadow Commons Leader Chris Philp said: “Clearly Labour’s trade union paymasters have played them like a fiddle.

“The first rule of negotiation is if you make an offer, in this case, a pay offer, you make sure that everything that needs to be settled and agreed is agreed at the same time. You don’t leave things undone, as this Labour government has clearly done.”

He added: “This is unbelievable naivety from the Labour government, thinking you can just throw some money at a trade union and that just solves all the problems.”

Labour’s new Calder Valley MP Josh Fenton-Glynn hit back, saying: “Union donations are democratic and transparent.”

He added that Leeds businessman Frank Hester “who was alleged to have referred to his staff and Dianne Abbott in racist terms donated £10 million to the Conservatives”.