At First Minister’s Questions today, the Leader of the Welsh Conservatives challenged the First Minister over serious concerns surrounding political donations linked to Labour Together and the wider financial relationship between Welsh Labour and affiliated trade unions.
There have been allegations about the actions of its leadership, including claims that money was paid to a US lobbying firm to generate smears against journalists who were investigating its funding. One UK Government Minister has already resigned in connection with this matter.
Figures show that over a recent ten-month period the Welsh Government provided at least £1.7 million in funding to trade unions, including Unite, Community, GMB, Unison, USDAW and the Wales TUC. At the same time, Electoral Commission data shows that in the 2025 calendar year the Labour Party received over £4.2 million from trade unions across the UK, including more than £1.5 million from Unite, £720,000 from GMB, £735,000 from Unison, £733,000 from USDAW, and £350,000 from Community, all organisations that have received Welsh Government funding.
Mr Millar warned that this creates a damaging perception of a “closed financial loop” in which organisations that receive significant public funding are also major financial backers of the Governing Party.
Commenting, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Darren Millar MS said:
“Public confidence in political funding depends on transparency and clear safeguards, where donations have been accepted, the public deserve to know what due diligence was carried out.
“More broadly, when the same organisations are major donors to the Labour Party and substantial recipients of Welsh Government funding, it risks creating the perception of a circular financial relationship.
“The First Minister must now return the money to protect confidence in Welsh public life and set out clearly what safeguards are in place to ensure public money is not indirectly benefitting party political interests.”
The full FMQs exchange will be published here in due course
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