THE SNP has seen the biggest fall in donations in the latest figures released by the Electoral Commission, but only because it received two huge donations in the previous year.
The record shows SNP donations plummeting from £2.8 million in 2011 to £550,523 last year, but two donations of around £1m – from lottery winners Colin and Chris Weir and a bequest from the Makar Edwin Morgan – were extraordinary one-offs.
Last year the biggest single donation was a bequest from New Zealand-born Edinburgh woman Rosheen Napier, who left the SNP £136,000.
SNP Business Convener Derek Mackay said: "2011 was an exceptional year due to the fantastic donation from Chris and Colin Weir, the extraordinarily generous bequest from Edwin Morgan, and of course it was a Scottish Parliament election year.
"As a more meaningful comparison, the £550,523 raised in donations in 2012 was 56% higher than in 2010, and over 240% higher than 2009."
At UK level, Conservative donations at £13.8m were slightly down and Labour's at £12m slightly up, while the LibDems' donations fell from £4m to under £2.5m.
Labour said figures from the final quarter of 2012 showed that the Conservatives received £713,786.09 from donors who attended meals with David Cameron and other ministers.
Labour vice chairman Michael Dugher said: "While millions of families are paying more, the millionaires who bankroll the Tory Party will receive a tax cut in April. We now know why David Cameron is so out of touch and why he consistently stands up for the wrong people."
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