Claim 5f27c269Checked 21 Jul 2026
FalseOn the truth scale
“It no longer matters to the City whether the government is Tory or Labour.”
Interpreted asmetonymy
“The financial sector no longer cares whether the government is Conservative or Labour.”
Reasoning & Evidence21 Jul 2026
The claim that "the financial sector no longer cares whether the government is Conservative or Labour" is a paraphrase of Farage's assertion that "it doesn't matter to the City any more whether it's Tory or Labour." The evidence available as of December 2011 strongly contradicts this claim.
**Donations and political preferences:** Data from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (reported in February and September 2011) showed that more than half (50.8%–51.4%) of all Conservative Party donations came from the City of London, totaling over £42 million since David Cameron became leader. In contrast, City donations to Labour had "nose-dived" under Ed Miliband, with private donations falling from 31.5–43.1% of Labour's funding to just 6.6%. This massive asymmetry in financial backing clearly indicates the City had a strong preference for the Conservatives.
**Labour's charm offensives:** Academic research (Ganderson, *Political Quarterly*, 2022, covering the period from the 1990s onward) documents that Labour consistently had to conduct "prawn cocktail offensives" to overcome City wariness, because the City had "default confidence" in the Conservatives by dint of "free market affinities, interpersonal and financial ties." If the City truly did not care which party was in power, Labour would not have needed to invest so heavily in courting the financial sector.
**Policy differences:** As of 2011, there were clear policy differences between the parties on financial regulation. Labour under Miliband backed the EU bonus ratio cap, a permanent bonus levy, and a Financial Transactions Tax, while the Conservative-led coalition took a different regulatory approach (abolishing the FSA, establishing the Financial Policy Committee, etc.). The City had distinct reactions to these differing policy agendas.
In short, the evidence from 2011 shows the financial sector clearly had a strong preference for the Conservatives and was not indifferent between the two parties. The claim is contradicted by the best available evidence.
Sources:
- BBC News, "More than half of Conservative donors 'from the City'" (February 2011), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-12401049
- The Guardian, "City bankrolled Tory election campaign" (February 2011), http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/feb/08/city-conervative-party-election-campaign-funding
- Bureau of Investigative Journalism, "Hedge funds, financiers and private equity make up 27% of Tory funding" (September 2011), https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2011-09-30/hedge-funds-financiers-and-private-equity-make-up-27-of-tory-funding
- The Independent, "Revealed: how the City bankrolls Tory party" (2011), https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/revealed-how-the-city-bankrolls-tory-party-2208668.html
- Ganderson, Joseph (2022), "Prawn cocktails and cold shoulders: Labour, the Conservatives and the City of London since the 1990s," *Political Quarterly*, 93(2), 209–217, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13137
- BBC News, "How money talks to Labour and Tories" (2010), https://www.bbc.com/news/business-11149557
From article
Well, I’m Cavalier by instinct and by lifestyle. I mean, I don’t like Roundheads. You know, you can be Christian and fun or you can be Christian and, like Cromwell, be deeply puritanical and want to control everybody. So, yes, the Civil War is terribly important but I accept that there is a minor conflict in my mind on it.
Ultimately, the importance of the Civil War and the republic and what happened in the 1680s is that we put together, I think, a constitutional settlement as good as anything in the world, really. We had a system of government that we all understood. We all understood. OK, there wasn’t full emancipation, but from then on general elections really mattered. And my argument is that since [Britain joined the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union, in] 19732The year that Edward Heath’s government took Britain into what was then the European Economic Community that has gradually been diminishing, to the point now where it doesn’t really make any difference who’s in No 10. I mean, it doesn’t matter to the City any more whether it’s Tory or Labour.
Sources opened