Political donations up

Tuesday, 24 August 2004 12:00 AM

In the run up to the next general election the main political parties are reporting a surge in donations.

Tuesday's figures, published by the Electoral Commission, show the Conservative's donations topping £3.6 million and Labour's running at £4.3 million. Last quarter both parties' donations were running at around £2.5 million.

The Conservative's donations came almost entirely from individuals, and though Labour also received a number of large personal donations, the majority of its money still came from the big trade unions.

There were big donations from Amicus, T&G, CWU and Unison, as well as the lesser known Graphical Paper & Media Union.

Another feature of Labour's donations was the number of serving representatives who contributed money to the party. These included Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell, Health Minister Stephan Ladyman and MP Barbara Follett.

In all, 18 parties reported donations totalling £10,961,167 from 1st April to 30th June.

Donations to the Liberal Democrats were down slightly, by £22,000 to £925,048.

There was a mixed picture for the minor parties. The Greens more than doubled their previous total to take them to £83,435 due to a boost from its local federations.

The big surprise of the figures is that the United Kingdom Independence Party received £1.2 million, largely boosted by £885,199 received from Highstone Group Ltd.

The British National Party saw a drop of over £10,000 in its donations.

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