Electoral Commission to look at Conservative money raising plan

4.47.21pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 25th Oct 2005

David Ward, Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bradford North has written to the Electoral Commission raising concerns about an invitation he has received to support an organisation called Conservative Vision.

"I received the invitation with my copy of the Yorkshire Post. An organisation called "Conservative Vision has invited me and I guess all the other readers of the Yorkshire post to join the organisation as a supporter or a member. Membership costs between £25 per year to £3600 per year. For my membership I would get complementary tickets to major sporting events such as the Grand national and Wimbledon and major rock and pop concerts. I will even get private access to Shadow Cabinet Members!"

"Whilst that seems to be an offer I can't refuse the scheme clearly raises some very serious issues. It seems to be a way of encouraging people from overseas to donate money to the Conservative party and it is not clear how this money will be properly reported to the Electoral Commission. Also, they seem to be saying that businesses can also make a donation but again there is no clarity about how the scheme complies with the Companies Act 1985 which clearly states that a company must not make a political donation to a political party unless the donation has been properly authorised by the members of that company. I am also concerned that it is not clear from the terms and conditions of the scheme whether the organisation will be required to submit an annual return to the Commission which would ensure that all donations are made public."

"Historically there have been and continue to be concerns around the funding of political parties. It would seem to me that there is the possibility that this organisation has the potential of appearing to allow businesses and people from overseas donate to a political party which in other circumstances would be not acceptable. I have asked the Electoral Commission to investigate the legality, management and operation of the Conservative Vision within the current legislative framework."