Winter Ball boosts Conservative coffers

Conservative fundraising efforts saw the party boost its coffers by £268,000 more than Labour in the second quarter of this year.

Figures published by the Electoral Commission revealed that donations to the Tories were slightly ahead of Labour's fundraising for a period which included the crucial weeks ahead of the May 5 election.

Donations from April to June totalled £6,071,637 for the Conservatives against £5,803,413 for Labour.

The Liberal Democrats trailed with £1,192,191, while the SNP raised £109,579 and Plaid Cymru coffers swelled by just £38,615.

Concern

Amongst the smaller parties, the UK Independence Party out-raised Veritas by a factor of 10 to one.

UKIP received donations totalling £235,181, while the party previously led by Robert Kilroy-Silk saw income of just £23,087.

George Galloway's Respect party received two donations worth £10,000 each.

The commission said it was "disappointed and concerned" that both Labour and the Conservatives were guilty of late reporting of donations that should have been declared in previous quarters.

"The commission's view is that political parties, especially larger parties, should by now have the procedures in place to enable them to comply with the financial reporting requirements of the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000," said the watchdog.

"In each of these cases the commission will be asking the party in question to explain why the donations were reported late, and will want to satisfy itself that the party has robust plans in place to address the difficulties which led to late submission this quarter."

Unions

Some of the big unions continued to play a key role in funding Labour.

The Transport and General Workers Union donated £590,881 during the quarter, while the GMB gave £738,426.

Amicus was also a major donor, giving the party £1,140,802.

Other big cash gifts came from City figure Jon Aisbitt who donated £250,000, and Sir Christopher Ondaatjie who gave Labour £100,000.

Among the politicians helping the party fight the election campaign were MPs Siobhain McDonagh and David Borrow (£1,200 each) and MSP Peter Peacock who gave £1,067.

Comedian Eddie Izzard gave Labour £10,000.

Donors

The Conservatives benefited from a half million pound donation from transport entrepreneur Sir Tom Cowie.

And the annual Tory Winter Ball was revealed to have raised some £156,080.

Donations to the Lib Dems included £4,780 from MP Alan Reid, £3,090 from Lynne Featherstone and £1,087.50 from Paul Holmes.

UKIP received £10,232 from MEP Graham Booth.