£37.6 MILLION – that's how much Boris Johnson's Tory party collected in donations over the three months to the end of December last year.

The period includes the snap general election that saw Johnson increase his party's majority, despite plummeting results in Scotland.

The astonishing sum is reported in the latest set of figures from the elections watchdog, which has revealed how the last quarter of December 2019 marked a new record in donations to political parties.

The total given to 14 different parties across the UK is a massive £28m more than the previous high, which was set in 2017.

Louise Edwards, director of regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: "In the final three months of 2019, political parties reported accepting the highest value of donations in one quarter since our records began.

"While there is no limit to the value of donations political parties can accept, spending rules are in place during elections to keep the campaign fair."

The National: Donations accepted y party (excl. public funds)Donations accepted y party (excl. public funds)

The Tories' takings – which were, as with other parties, topped up with an allocation of public funds – far outstripped their rivals.

Even the party with the second highest donations – the LibDems – lagged far behind on £13.3m from private donors.

Labour collected only £9.8m before public funds took them to £10.6m.

In contrast, the SNP's donations totalled only £54,170, with additional public funds boosting that to £213,060.

Meanwhile, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, which did not win a single seat, drew £7.1m from donors and the similarly unsuccessful UKIP only £3600.

Neither of those parties was eligible for a share of public funds.