Labour donor Dale Vince backs £50m plan to ban private political donations, targeting Reform UK funding

From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026.

Dale Vince, a millionaire Labour donor who has given several million pounds to the party, is backing a report that calls for private political donations to be abolished and replaced with state funding of around £50 million a year. Vince said British democracy is "increasingly up for sale to the highest bidder" and singled out Reform UK as a party "bankrolled to a level of prominence a handful of super-rich donors have simply bought." The report, commissioned by Vince's own company Ecotricity and produced by the Autonomy Institute, proposes financing the shift by redirecting money currently allocated to the Royal Family.

Vince donated £50,000 to Labour specifically to keep Green leader Zack Polanski out of Sir Keir Starmer's former Holborn and St Pancras seat.

The Autonomy Institute estimates the annual cost per person would be less than what a bag of crisps sells for.

Critics will note the plan is backed by a man who has already given Labour millions — and whose own company commissioned the report calling for it.