(Bloomberg) -- The UK Conservative Party will increase membership fees by an inflation-busting 56% as political turmoil triggered a slump in donations.

Annual membership will rise to £39 ($47) from £25, according to two people familiar with the plans. It comes at a time when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said countering inflation is his main economic priority.

The hike suggests the party needs to raise funds quickly ahead of the next general election, due before January 2025 at the latest. Electoral Commission data released on Tuesday showed that donations to the Tories sank to their lowest in more than two years in the third quarter.

UK Tory Party Donations Sink to Lowest in Over Two Years

The sharp fall took Tory fund-raising to its lowest since the second quarter of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic had just begun. 

The drop-off coincided with a period of political and economic crisis for the ruling party, as two prime ministers — Boris Johnson and Liz Truss — were forced out in quick succession. The Tory membership voted for Truss to become their leader this summer, but her ill-fated premiership was soon curtailed and she was replaced by Sunak without a vote of members.

Tory membership fees had previously been frozen for the last 16 years, a party official said, and are still lower than joining the opposition Labour Party.

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