Revealed: House of Lords members have given £109m to political parties

Conservatives benefit most from donations provided either before or after peers secured their seats

• Cash before honours: the Tory donors made peers who barely speak in Lords

Peers who sat in the House of Lords during the last parliament have given a combined 109m in political donations, almost 50m of which was contributed before they secured their seats.

A group of 20 super-donors - all male - have given more than 1m each.

Nearly 48m came from donors before they joined the Lords, with 91% of that sum going to the Conservatives.

Donations after joining the Lords were split more evenly, with 42% given to the Conservatives, 33% to Labour and 25% to the Lib Dems.

The top three donors were David Sainsbury, with 25m to Labour and the Lib Dems, and the Conservative supporters Anthony Bamford with 10m and Michael Farmer with 9m.