Billionaire donor abandons Sunak as he announces switch to Labour - Tories in 'despair'

The 71-year-old, who donated £500,000 to the Conservatives ahead of the 2019 election, stopped short of saying he would donate money to Labour at this election.

Caudwell also ruled out backing Reform UK over its stance on climate change among other things.

Caudwell said: "The Labour Party in my estimation, as much as I disagree with some of the policies, are absolutely the very best for Britain going forward. What I see is a Labour Party committed to GDP growth and the environment.

"Without GDP growth you can’t look after your social services. And without focusing on the environment there won’t be a world to look after."

The Phones4U mogul said he had donated in 2019 "because I couldn’t possibly stand a Corbyn Government".

He also praised Starmer's attempts to get rid of what he called "the loony Left" which he claimed had focused on "extreme socialist policies".

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Caudwell has been increasingly critical of the Rishi Sunak, both in his role as Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

He told the BBC: "Everything he did within Covid was wrong. He paid people for furlough which was all or nothing. He gave them too much in the wrong way.

"The criticisms that I made of Rishi during his chancellorship, I think were pretty much evidenced in the D-Day situation...[it showed] a complete lack of judgement."

Giving his reaction, Sir Keir said: "I’m delighted that John, someone with such a successful track record in business, has today thrown his support behind the changed Labour Party that I lead."

Caudwell added: "When Labour launched its manifesto last Thursday, I was delighted to see that accelerating economic growth was front and centre, and that projected growth is clearly tied into making Britain a clean energy superpower.

"So, I can declare publicly that I will vote for Labour, and I encourage everybody to do the same.

"We need a very strong Labour government that can take extremely bold decisions and you can rest assured that I will be doing my best to influence them wherever I can, in putting the great back in Britain."