The Conservatives have set the spending limit in their leadership contest at £400,000, as the beaten and skint opposition party tries to use the race to cover costs. Robert Jenrick, a frontrunner who has been preparing for the contest for some time, had pressed for a higher cap. The £400,000 limit is £100,000 more than it was in the last contest, two years ago. The contest will also be a “pay to play” affair, with candidates needing to have raised £50,000 to reach the final four, who will make their case to party members at the Tory conference in autumn. Money raised will go towards the cost of that event. Candidates will then need to have £150,000 to make the final shortlist of two, which will be put to party members. The higher spending limit reflects what will be a longer race, but it also comes as the party’s coffers are badly depleted after a disastrous election campaign in which many donors who supported the Tories in 2019 turned their backs. The ability to attract donors is likely to be a brandished as an asset in the race. A friend of Jenrick’s said: “In order to build back we will need a leader who can raise funds. Rob has a track record of not only being a significant fundraiser himself but also as someone who has helped other colleagues.” The former immigration minister – one of four candidates to have officially declared before the Monday deadline – had already raised £50,000 from three donors in the months running up to the general election. Records show they included a donation of £35,000 on 3 April from Quantum Pacific Corporation UK Ltd, owned by Idan Ofer, a London-based shipping and mining heir whose father, Sammy, was once Israel’s richest man. It came weeks before Jenrick registered a £5,000 donation from another company, Firefly Digital Ltd, which is ultimately controlled by the hedge fund tycoon Hilton Nathanson. Jenrick also received a £10,000 donation in May from Financial Recovery Technologies UK Ltd, which is controlled by two American brothers, Howard and Jeffrey Wolk. As well as their staffing costs and their contribution to the party conference, each candidate will be spending money on polling and advertising. “It’s hard to convey just how you burn through money in campaigns like this,” said one source. Facebook records show Jenrick has already used funds for targeted adverts on the social media platform, spending about £1,000 in the last few weeks. They include adverts promoting an article he wrote on Conservative Home about “empowering members” and signposting would-be supporters to his official site. The amount Jenrick has secured is considerably more than other candidates and would-be hopefuls had recorded in the last register of MPs’ interests before Rishi Sunak called the election. Among them, Tom Tugendhat declared £5,000 at the end of April from Michael Tory, a long-term Conservative supporter, to support office expenses, and £3,000 in December from Michael Hintze, the billionaire hedge fund manager who has given heavily to the party and was made a Tory peer in 2022. Tugendhat raised more than £120,000 to fund his unsuccessful bid for the Conservative leadership in 2022. The other two declared candidates so far are the former home secretary James Cleverly and the former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride. Priti Patel is also thought likely to enter the contest, while Suella Braverman, another former home secretary, is canvassing support. Of other potential leadership contenders who have yet to declare, Kemi Badenoch received £5,000 worth of strategic advice and training from Shaya Raymond, a communications specialist in “reputation strategy, campaigning and crisis”. Donors are expected to open their wallets when the full slate of declared candidates becomes clear on Monday. A breakdown of what has been donated in recent weeks will be declared at a later date. A source in one of the campaigns said: “It might be the case that at least one of those running has already raised a considerable sum. But also when you start running, that is when you can really go in front of someone and ask for that support. “When we do see the declarations after the contest it won’t be a surprise if it turns out that a couple of donors have given to a number of candidates.” In 2022 Liz Truss was given more than £500,000 for her leadership campaign, with about half coming from donors linked to hedge fund bosses and other City financiers. A Conservative party spokesperson said: “There is always a spending limit set for each campaign during a leadership contest.”