Political donations fall by £1m

Donations to political parties fell by almost £1 million in the second quarter of 2012, official figures show.

A total of £7,873,478 in donations was reported to the Electoral Commission, down £992,312 on the figure for the first three months of the year.

The Conservatives received £3,785,579 in donations, with Labour trailing behind on £2,964,471 and the Liberal Democrats £717,797.

Labour also received £1,640,198 out of a total of £2,416,806 of public funds accepted by opposition parties.

Declarations to the watchdog showed registered political parties owed £14,585,730 in outstanding loans, a slight fall on the last quarter's figures.

Labour received £840,275 from the Unite union, the largest donation in the period from a single source.

The party also received £429,558 from the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, and £313,863 from the GMB union.

The Conservatives' biggest donation was £512,450 from financier Michael Farmer, who was appointed co-treasurer of the party in February.

The Liberal Democrats' largest donation was £250,000 from Brompton Capital Limited.