The new kind of funding for the Tories is highlighted here, from the Guardian today. The Party is no longer funded by donations from its members, but by huge donations from rich magnates, who are set to profit massively from Brexit- in a totally unprecedent way- many of whom are Press owners who have led the disinformation and smear campaign against Corbyn.
''Dislocated from their traditional support, the Conservatives are now largely dependent on funding from a small number of overwhelmingly pro-leave donors. When Johnson took over, promising a hard Brexit, donations increased sharply, particularly from corporates and wealthy individuals involved in hedge funds and other speculative finance. The Conservatives’ growing dependence on hedge fund donors has not gone unnoticed. In September, the former chancellor Philip Hammond declared that Johnson was in league with financiers who, he said, stood to profit handsomely from a no-deal Brexit. The prime minister’s sister, Rachel Johnson, agreed.
The reality is more prosaic, and arguably far more concerning. Hedge fund donors are not trying to orchestrate a great financial heist, but a very small subset of British society now has a hugely disproportionate influence on the Conservatives.
“The Tory party is now wholly unrepresentative in any way of the UK population – its source of funds is so restricted,” says the economist Frances Coppola. “These are all people who want to see a bonfire of regulation, a Singapore-on-Thames.”