Scottish Labour breach donation rules

Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander is coming under increasing pressure to resign following revelations that her campaign to become party leader was partly funded by an illegal donation.

Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander is coming under increasing pressure to resign following revelations that her campaign to become party leader was partly funded by an illegal donation.

Paul Green, a Jersey resident, donated £950 to Wendy Alexander’s leadership campaign despite being debarred from making donations due to his place of residency. Any contribution made by a non-UK resident breaks the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.

All donations made to the leadership campaign were below the £1000 threshold, beyond which donors must be publicly registered.

Charles Gordon MSP, who headed Wendy Alexander’s campaign, has already resigned from his post following his involvement in securing the donation. Mr Gordon had claimed that the donation from Mr Green had come via Combined Property Services, which would have been a permissible donation as the company is registered in Glasgow. Mr Gordon’s position became untenable following statements from both Mr Green and Combined Property Services denying that the company had any knowledge of the donation.

On resigning from his post, Mr Gordon stated that "I handed the donation on to the campaign team and conveyed to them that it was a donation under the auspices of Combined Property Services and that Mr Green had a controlling interest in the company…. unfortunately I was wrong in both these assumptions."