Two major green donors gave Labour £6 million in the run-up to the general election.

Sir Keir Starmer’s party was bolstered by £4 million in cash from Quadrature Capital, a hedge fund, on May 28.

It was also given £2 million by Ecotricity, owned by Dale Vince, the green energy tycoon who in the past has also given money to Just Stop Oil.

Labour outspent the Tories by £10 million between April and June, receiving £26.1 million in donations, while the Tories received £16.1 milli on.

Quadrature’s charitable arm had previously given money to environmental causes but its financial support for Labour represented its first donation to a political party.

The group said at the time that its support for Labour was motivated by its “commitment to the green transition of the economy”.

A statement on its website reads: “Having analysed commitments set out by each party, we donated £4 million to the Labour Party, in support of policies that will deliver climate action while also promoting social equity and economic resilience.”

Dale Vince has previously given money to Just Stop Oil

Mr Vince’s energy company is extremely profitable and subsidies received under the previous government boosted its income by £123.3 million in the most recent financial year.

In June, he called on Sir Keir to ban British arms sales to Israel if Labour took office, claiming that refusing to do so would represent a “moral crime”.

Some £5 million of the Tories’ electoral war chest came from Frank Hester, who was embroiled in a race row earlier this year over comments he was said to have made about Diane Abbott, a Labour politician.

The businessman allegedly told his staff in 2019 that Ms Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and “should be shot”.

Frank Hester donated around £5m to the Conservative Party

Rishi Sunak, the Tory prime minister at the time Mr Hester’s comments were reported, said the comments had been “wrong and racist” but that his “remorse” should be accepted.

Mr Hester has said that he personally phoned Ms Abbott in March to apologise for his comments, while his spokesman said his remarks “had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

Reform UK raised £2.6 million, which included £20,000 from Charlie Mullins, the Pimlico Plumbers founder who is now preparing to flee the UK to avoid a Labour tax raid.

The Liberal Democrats raised £5.3 million in donations in the second quarter of the year, while the Greens received a total of £300,000.