Tag Archives: donations (Lib Dem)

Michael Brown arrested in Dominican Republic

By Mark Pack | Published 7th January 2012 - 5:25 pm

The Guardian reports:

The Liberal Democrats’ biggest donor, who has been on the run for three years after being convicted of a multimillion pound theft, has been arrested by police in the Dominican Republic, the Guardian can disclose…

A City of London police spokesman confirmed Brown’s arrest. “We are pleased to hear that Michael Brown has been detained by authorities in the Dominican Republic, and are currently establishing contact with them to find out further details about his arrest.

Posted in News | Also tagged electoral commission, michael brown | 23 Comments

Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q3, 2011)

By Stephen Tall | Published 30th November 2011 - 12:57 pm

The Electoral Commission has this past week published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties, showing that the Lib Dems raised £1,199,623 between July and September this year.

(At the foot of this post is the full breakdown of donations (excluding public funds) received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.)

By comparison, the party raised £571,715 in the third quarter of 2006 (the equivalent stage of the parliamentary cycle), suggesting a far more sustainable level of fundraising success is now being achieved; although the party has been hit very hard since its move …

Posted in News | Also tagged donations, fundraising | 8 Comments

A quiet revolution in political party finance

By Mark Pack | Published 16th September 2011 - 12:25 pm

As the Financial Times reported earlier this week (expanding on a point Stephen has made previously):

The [Liberal Democrats] party said it had raised more than Labour from individual and corporate donors in five out of the past six quarters. In the second quarter of this year the party attracted £850,000 against £300,000 for Labour, which is now majority financed by money from the big unions.

As far as I’m aware, this is the first time the Liberal Democrats have been raising more money from non-trade union sources than the Labour Party, which is a major change from the previous well-established …

Posted in News | Also tagged donations, party funding | 12 Comments

Michael Brown and the Lib Dems: the bits the Telegraph missed out

By Stephen Tall | Published 11th September 2011 - 5:57 pm

Today’s Telegraph splashes with the story, Revealed: secret new life of fugitive Lib Dem donor, devoting its first three pages to the tale of Michael Brown’s new life on the run in a Caribbean hideout.

Michael Brown, as our readers will not need reminding, donated £2.4m to the party just before the 2005 general election. His subsequent arrest and conviction on several counts of fraud have been an embarrassment to the Lib Dems ever since.

The Telegraph’s story is, shock horror, a little partial, though. Take this paragraph: ‘The Liberal Democrats have steadfastly resisted all attempts to force them to repay …

Posted in News | Also tagged electoral commission, michael brown, parliamentary ombudsman, telegraph | 39 Comments

Lib Dems outperform Labour on private donations, notes the FT

By Helen Duffett | Published 6th June 2011 - 5:55 pm

Good to see a bit of media recognition today which overtly acknowledges our now consistent out-performing of Labour on private fundraising efforts. The Financial Times reports:

Private and company donations to Labour have plummeted to a 10th of their pre-election average in the first six months of Ed Miliband’s leadership, according to research by the Financial Times.

Many former donors have turned their backs on the opposition party, leaving it increasingly reliant on unions, which provide the bulk of its private income.

Labour’s corporate and individual donations of £248,577 for the half-year to March were dwarfed even by those to the Liberal

…

Posted in News, Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged electoral commission, financial times, party funding | 11 Comments

Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q2, 2010)

By Stephen Tall | Published 23rd August 2010 - 6:53 pm

The Electoral Commission has today published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties, showing that the Lib Dems raised just over £2.05 million in the second three months of this year, and almost £4 million in total in the frst half of the year.

(At the foot of this post is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.)

By comparison, the party raised £4.4m in the first half of 2005 (leading up to that year’s general election) – but that did of course include

Posted in News | Also tagged electoral commission, featured | 9 Comments

How the central finances of parties have been panning out

By Mark Pack | Published 11th August 2010 - 11:20 am

The following three graphs are from the Electoral Commission and show income and expenditure for the three main political parties as reflected in their annual accounts. There are some important exceptions to what they show, such as the money brought in and spent directly by election candidates, though from what I know of these exceptions they paint a similar picture to those annual accounts of the relative trends over time.

As Stephen has often noted on this site when reporting on the quarterly donation figures, the Liberal Democrat figures show a consistently higher level of income in this Parliament than …

Posted in News | Also tagged conservative party, donations, electoral commission, labour party | 8 Comments

Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q1, 2010). Make today the day you donate.

By Stephen Tall | Published 4th May 2010 - 8:15 pm

The Electoral Commission has today published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties, showing that the Lib Dems raised just over £1.9 million in the first three months of this year. Below is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.

By comparison, the party raised £3.7m in the first quarter of 2005 (leading up to that year’s general election) – but that did of course include that £2.4m donation from Michael Brown. If we exclude that one-off donation, which had to be spent immediately under the terms of the gift agreement, the Lib Dems have raised considerably more this time around.

Our figures are of course dwarfed by the Tories and Labour fundraising among their friends in big business and the trade unions. Labour has raised £3.6m during this election campaign alone, the Tories a further £4.43m. The Lib Dems: £200k. And yet our party is level-pegging with Labour in the polls, and just a notch or two behind the Tories. You want to know which party genuinely understands the concept of value-for-money? Go figure.

Posted in General Election, News | Also tagged ldv election appeal | 1 Comment

Those Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q4, 2009)

By Stephen Tall | Published 25th February 2010 - 3:20 pm

The Electoral Commission has published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties this week, and its website allow us to gain a picture of the Lib Dems’ fundraising efforts over the years. Below is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.

Five/six-figure gifts coming from the following: Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (£222.5k), Christopher Nicholson (£52.2k), Michael Brehme (£50k), Charles Brand (£25k), Brian Roper (£20k), Neil Sherlock (£20k), Susan Kramer (£15k), Richard Duncalf (£11.7k), Christopher Butler (£10.7k), Giles Wilkes (£10.25k), Richard Brindle (£10k), Stephen Dawson (£10k).

25 Parliamentarians contributed this quarter – those who gave £1k+ I spot-checked were:

Posted in News | 12 Comments

Those Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q3, 2009)

By Stephen Tall | Published 30th November 2009 - 10:30 am

Lots of familiar names on the 2009 Q3 list, with five/six-figure gifts coming from the following: Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (£231k), Bloomberg Tradebook Europe Limited (£25k), Mr Christopher Nicholson (£21.5k), Professor John Howson (£10k), Mrs Joan Ramsden (£10k), and Philip Young (£10k).

Fewer Parliamentarians than normal contributed this quarter – the most generous I spot-checked were:

Posted in News | 8 Comments

+++ OFFICIAL: Lib Dems cleared by Electoral Commission over Michael Brown’s £2.4m donation

By Stephen Tall | Published 20th November 2009 - 11:11 am

Here’s the full statement just released by the Electoral Commission:

Donations by 5th Avenue Partners Limited to the Liberal Democrats: statement

20 Nov 2009

The Electoral Commission, the independent elections and party finance watchdog, today announced the outcome of its investigation into donations made by the company 5th Avenue Partners Ltd to the Liberal Democrats. Donations totalling over £2.4m were made in 2005.

The investigation considered whether there had been breaches of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA). In particular, it looked at whether the company, reported as the donor, was a permissible donor. It also considered whether the company

…

Posted in News | Also tagged electoral commission, michael brown | 34 Comments

Those Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q2, 2009)

By Stephen Tall | Published 26th August 2009 - 6:30 pm

The Electoral Commission has published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties today, and its website allow us to gain a picture of the Lib Dems’ fundraising efforts over the years. Below is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.

Lots of familiar names on the 2009 Q1 list, with five/six-figure gifts coming from: Lord Alliance (£250k), Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (£205k), Anthony Wilkinson (£105k), C& C Business Solutions (£50k), George Lyon (£15.5k), Christopher Nicholson (£15k), and Andrew Haisley (£10k). Incidentally, as I understand it, Lord Alliance’s gift is the conversion of a loan to a donation, which represents a big boost to the party’s balance sheet – which is no bad thing, given the party’s deficit in 2008.

The most generous Parliamentarians I spot-checked were:

Posted in News | Also tagged electoral commission | 4 Comments

Lib Dems’ £550k deficit, 8.5% membership drop, and other facts from the party’s annual accounts

By Stephen Tall | Published 30th July 2009 - 2:45 pm

The Electoral Commission has just published online the latest sets of financial accounts for the main parties, including the Liberal Democrats, for the year end 31 December 2008. You can read the party’s statement of accounts HERE. For those who don’t want to wade through its 28 pages, though, here are a few of the sexier snippets:

The Liberal Democrats had, by some way, the largest pre-tax deficit of any of the 11 political parties whose income and expenditure figures are published – the party’s income was £5.47 million against expenditure of £6.01m, a pre-tax deficit of £540,700. The report notes, ‘As a general election must be held within the next 12 months, it is vital to build the Party’s fund raising capacity’.
Donations in 2008 accounted for £1.5m of income, against £1.9m in 2007. Income from membership and subscriptions was up very slightly at £808k. Net conference income was up significantly: £558k in 2008, compared with 415k in 2007.
The bulk of the party’s expenditure falls in three main areas: staff costs (£1.75m), campaigning (£1.6m) and premises and office costs (£0.68m).

Posted in News | Also tagged annual accounts (Lib Dem), electoral commission, featured, michael brown, party membership | 59 Comments

Those Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q1, 2009)

By Stephen Tall | Published 27th May 2009 - 6:45 pm

The Electoral Commission has published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties this week, and LDV’s own Mark Pack has already blogged his success in getting the Commission to report the figures accurately.

The Commission’s website does allow us, though, to gain a picture of the Lib Dems’ fundraising efforts over the years. Below is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.

Overall, the figures show that the party’s efforts have stepped up a level during this time. Since 2004 – and most notably in 2005, with that Michael Brown donation – the party’s annual donations have never dipped below £2m. The first quarter’s figures for 2009 suggest this trend will continue, with some £823,751 received, almost double the equivalent figure for 2008.

Many of you may have seen advertised recently the position of Major Gift Fundraiser for General Election for the party on a one-year £40,000 contract, suggesting again that the party is starting to take its fundraising seriously, and not simply relying on membership mail-shots.

Lots of familar names on the 2009 Q1 list, with five/six-figure gifts coming from: Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (£205,000), Paul Strasburger (£100,000), Lord Alliance (£50,000), Bryan Roper (£50,000), Margaret Roper (£50,000), Peter Bennett-Jones (£25,000), Charles Brand (£20,000), Kenneth J Douglas (£12,500), Ministry of Sound Ltd (£10,000) and David Evans (£10,000).

The most generous Parliamentarians I spot-checked were: Vince Cable (£11,700), and Chris Davies (two gifts of £5,000), with Susan Kramer and Andrew Duff also contributing £5,000 each.

Here are the full figures:

Posted in News | Also tagged electoral commission | 12 Comments

Reform of political donations: within the gift of the Lib Dems?

By Stephen Tall | Published 20th April 2009 - 10:02 am

Yesterday’s Observer reported that one of the Lib Dems’ bigger donors, Sudhir Choudhrie, faces allegations of “accepting tens of millions of pounds in kickbacks from an arms deal between an Israeli company and the Indian government”:

Sudhir Choudhrie, who has personally donated £95,000 to the party and whose relatives’ companies have donated a further £475,000, was named as a key arms broker in foreign reports. … This is the second time that Choudhrie, 59, has been accused of being paid an illegal commission from a major arms deal in India. The allegations are said to be politically motivated, and to

…

Posted in News | Also tagged bernie ecclestone, james graham, lord jacobs, nick clegg, sudhir choudhrie | 6 Comments

Tag Archives: donations (Lib Dem)

Search

Poll