Polling published in the last few weeks reveals that the British public are worried about the influence of money in politics, with a majority wanting to see the introduction of caps on donations to political parties.
A Survation poll, conducted between 9-11 December 2025, on behalf of 38 Degrees, found that 57% of people support the introduction of a cap on the amount of money individuals or companies can donate to parties, while just 7% were against.
Separate polling by YouGov (27-29 December 2025), shows that just 13% of people think that individuals should be allowed to give as much as they wish to political parties. Similarly, 9% think business should be allowed to give as much as they wish.
The case for a donation cap
We strongly support the introduction of a cap on financial donations to political parties. At present a single donor can give an unlimited amount of money to a party at any time. There is nothing to stop a multi-billionaire donating £100 million (or more) to a political party. It should not be possible for anyone to buy that much influence in our democracy.
As we highlighted recently, a donation cap could be set at different levels and there is an option to set it at a relatively high level initially with the intention that this is reduced at a later date. The most important thing, however, is that the principle of a cap is established. This is a normal part of the democratic landscape in many democratic countries.
The government published a policy paper on democracy and elections, in July 2025. This committed the government to bringing forward an Elections Bill, with the widely held expectation that this will be laid before parliament in the next few months.
The policy paper included many welcome proposals to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties. These include making it impossible for ‘shell companies’ who do not carry out genuine commercial activity in the UK, to donate to political parties and tightening rules around donations from untransparent unincorporated associations.
The upcoming Elections Bill should include a cap on donations
Something that did not make it into the policy paper, however, was any proposal to put a limit on the amount that any one individual or business can donate to political parties.
The forthcoming Elections Bill is the perfect opportunity for the government to introduce such a a measure. That is why we are joining with organisations such as Transparency International and Spotlight on Corruption to urge the government to include a cap on donations to political parties in their legislation. If they do so they will be introducing a common sense policy that will help protect the fabric of our democracy in the years ahead, and as we have seen above, will be going with the grain of public opinion on this issue.
Do you agree? Add your name to our call.
Click here to demand the government put donation caps in their upcoming Elections Bill >