The Conservative party comfortably outpaced Labour in its fundraising efforts over the first three months of the year, helped in large part by a £1.1m donation from Stanley Fink, often referred to as the “godfather” of the British hedge fund industry.

Figures on party funding released on Wednesday by the Electoral Commission show the Tories raised £4.3m in the quarter to March 31, compared with £2.8m for Labour and £826,751 for the Liberal Democrats.