The Electoral Commission, currently investigating donations given by Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative party's deputy chairman, yesterday emerged to be among the donors to the party.
It disclosed that it gave a £100,000 grant to the Tories in the last quarter of 2008, to help the not-so-financially stricken party. The money is part of £1.4m of taxpayer cash given to the party on top of almost £4.5m of private cash to fill the party's coffers.
The Electoral Commission explained that the money was part of a policy development grant worth £2m to all political parties with more than two MPs and distributed under a formula agreed by parliament. The commission has no say in how much goes to any individual party.
To an extent, it shows that the Tories - despite cuts in their HQ - are relatively recession proof compared with Labour, receiving £6.6m, including suppport in lieu of cash over this period. The Tories took more than 57% of all money given to political parties in the last quarter of the year.
Labour received £2.5m, and just 29% of all donations. Liberal Democrats received less than £1m, or 11% of all donations.
The latest return shows the Tories well ahead of Labour, who are again relying on the unions to bankroll their campaigns and pay off interest to wealthy donors.
The biggest donation to Labour, £578,000, came from the Amicus section of the Unite union, whose leader, Derek Simpson, currently seeking re-election, is a strong suppporter of Gordon Brown.
The Tories' biggest donation, £530,000 came from a gala dinner in Scotland, suggesting businessmen in Gordon Brown's backyard are now prepared to stump up large sums.
If donations equal votes, the Tories appear at the moment to be coasting towards victory at the next election - or at the very least, being able to mount one of the best funded campaigns ever.
