Daily Express owner Richard Desmond donates £1.3m to Ukip

The businessman says the party is unique in not being run by 'elitists'

Thursday 16 April 2015 18:32 BST

Owner of the Daily Express and the Daily Star, Richard Desmond (PA)

Ukip has received a major boost after Richard Desmond, the owner of the Express Newspapers, handed over £1m to Nigel Farage’s party.

The donation follows signs that Ukip support is being squeezed in the final weeks of the election campaign as it struggles to match the spending power of the Tories and Labour.

Mr Farage said the cash, which follows a £300,000 donation from the media tycoon last year, would help significantly in its fight “against the big battalions”.

Mr Desmond said: “I firmly believe in Ukip. It’s a party for good, ordinary British people. It is not run by elitists. They are struggling to have a voice. They do not have a massive party machine or highly paid public relations people.

“They are human; they are not perfect and they do not pretend to be. But what they believe in is the best for the British people. They are the sort of people who will stand up for people who are struggling.”

His newspapers, which include the Daily Express, Sunday Express and Daily Star, looks set to endorse Ukip at the election.

Lord Stevens, the Ukip peer and former chairman of Express Newspapers, returned to the newspaper group last year as its deputy chairman.

Mr Farage appealed for other wealthy sympathisers to follow the Express proprietor’s lead. He said: “I know there are a lot more people out there who agree in private but I hope this public gesture encourages others.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Show all 10

1/10In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Andrew Hawkins (ComRes)

“Events last week have reinforced my prediction that the Tories will be the largest party. Ukip’s slow puncture may help the Tories most, and Nicola Sturgeon may well fulfil her wish to keep David Cameron in No 10 by reducing Labour’s Scottish MPs to numbers that could fit in a stretch limo.”

Andrew Hawkins

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Joe Twyman (YouGov)

“The national picture remains largely unchanged, but YouGov’s Scotland polling shows the SNP at an all-time high. Only 44 per cent of Labour supporters felt Jim Murphy performed best in the first Scottish leaders’ debate.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Ben Page (Ipsos MORI)

“I need to see a more decisive shift in the polls to think that Labour have definitely moved ahead of the Conservatives. There has been more good news for Labour than the Conservatives, with Ed Miliband’s personal ratings improving. Still, a hung parliament remains the most likely option.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Rick Nye (Populus)

“No change.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Nick Moon (GfK)

“I haven’t changed my broad view that the Tories will be the largest party, but Labour is likely to form a minority government. Last week’s projection (Con 280, Lab 273) looks pretty likely to me. The risk for Labour was that, as decision time looms, voters might take ahold of nurse, but that may be mitigated by Miliband’s showing in the debates.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Damian Lyons Lowe (Survation)

“Unchanged, except for an SNP uptick at Labour’s expense. The SNP’s surge in Survation’s polling continues unabated. Nicola Sturgeon scored well in our debate polling.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Michelle Harrison (TNS)

“Despite all the sound, fury and bluster, there has been no game-changer. If anything, it’s become even tougher for the major parties, with signs of a softening in Conservative support and continued evidence that the SNP will inflict major damage on Labour.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

James Endersby (Opinium Research)

“Our latest polling figures, published today, show movement back towards the Conservatives (a two-point Tory lead). My prediction last week of a shaky sway back in favour of the Tories on election day holds fast; and with a hung parliament, who on earth knows who’ll be able to form a government?”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Martin Boon (ICM)

“At the equivalent point before the 2010 election, our poll suggested 37 per cent for the Tories and 31 per cent for Labour, which more or less nailed the actual result. I think that campaigns mostly reinforce perceptions rather than change minds.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 11/04/15

Lord Ashcroft (Lord Ashcroft Polls)

He refuses to make predictions. “My polls are snapshots, not predictions.”

Rex

Ukip is averaging around 13 to 15 per cent in the polls, sharply down on its high point last summer, but enough to have a crucial impact in closely-fought marginal constituencies.

It is defending two seats captured in by-elections and hopes to add several more on May 7, including the Thanet South constituency where Mr Farage is standing.

But party sources have confirmed it is scaling down its ambitions and focusing on a narrower range of targets.

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