DONATIONS to political parties fell by almost £1 million in the second quarter of 2012, official figures showed yesterday, with Labour appearing to be the biggest loser.
Some £7,873,478 in donations were reported to the Electoral Commission, down £992,312 on the first three months of the year.
The Conservatives received £3,785,579 in donations while Labour trailed behind on £2,964,471, with the Liberal Democrats on £717,797. The SNP, which last year – the year of the Scottish elections – brought in a record £5 million, received just one recorded donation in the second quarter, of £2500.
The Scottish Conservatives received the second and third largest donations to so-called "accounting units", each totalling £125,000, with one going to their Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency association and the other going to their Central Ayrshire constituency association. The total of £250,000 came from Peter Beak.
The largest single donation to a party between April and July came from Unite, which gave Labour £840,275. The second-largest came from financier Michael Farmer, who donated £512,450 to the Tories. Mr Farmer was appointed the party's co-treasurer in February.
The LibDems' largest donation was £250,000 from Brompton Capital Limited.
Baroness Warsi, Conservative Party co-chairman, said Labour continued to be "overwhelmingly reliant" on cash from Unite and accused Ed Miliband of being unable to stand up to its leader, Len McCluskey.
A Unite spokesman hit back, insisting trade union donations were among the "cleanest" in politics.
Labour analysis showed donors who attended meals and parties at No 10 and Chequers gave almost £800,000 to the Tories.
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