Green energy tycoon takes Labour election donations to more than £5m

A green energy tycoon who previously bankrolled Just Stop Oil has now donated more than £5 million to Labour’s general election war chest.

Dale Vince gave a further £500,000 to Sir Keir Starmer’s party in March, records from the election watchdog show, taking his public donations to £3.4 million since 2020.

Mr Vince confirmed that he had donated £1 million to Labour on May 23, the day after Rishi Sunak called the election, and that his total contributions had now surpassed £5 million.

The full scale of his donations will not emerge for months because of delays between donations being received and reported by political parties and published by the Electoral Commission.

Mr Vince said he had given “chunks of £500,000 and £1 million” earlier in the spring, adding: “I know the figure has now reached £5 million.”

He severed ties with Just Stop Oil as part of his commitment to supporting Sir Keir’s party and said the choice at the election was between Labour and the Conservatives.

‘Voting for a Green MP is a risk’

He told the Financial Times: “It would be a mistake to vote Green – Labour is the only one of the two parties that can form a government that would be green in nature.

“Voting for a Green MP is a risk because, although they may not prevent Labour getting a majority, Labour need a big majority to implement their green economic plan.”

Mr Vince said he was “relaxed” about a U-turn by Sir Keir in February, in which he scaled back Labour’s flagship green spending commitment from £28 billion a year to under £5 billion.

“I understood why Labour did it – I don’t think it’s a sign of any lack of ambition on these issues, it’s about being practical,” he said. “Labour has fantastic green plans.”

On Wednesday, Mr Vince, one of Labour’s three biggest donors, urged the party to ban British arms sales to Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza if it wins the election.

He told The Telegraph it would be an “obvious step” and said he would “hope” that Labour would send a stronger signal on Gaza.

Last month, Mr Vince, who owns the vegan football club Forest Green Rovers, called for the introduction of a red meat tax to help slow climate change.

He said red meat was “destructive” to the planet and human health, with the comments coming after Mr Sunak had promised in his Tory conference speech never to introduce new taxes to discourage meat-eating.