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David Miliband campaign bankrolled by rich Blairites

David Miliband eating an ice cream

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The Electoral Commission today published the list of major donations to Labour Leadership candidates in June, for which they are the regulators, and it shows just how much David Miliband has been bank-rolled by a few big donors.

Media baron Waheed Ali and David Claydon have each donated £50,000, Lord David Sainsbury £31,188 (including the use of offices), Mishcon de Reya £13,077 in legal services and £10,000 each from filmaker David Putnam, IT mogul Lord Parry Mitchell and businessman Sir Sigmund Sternberg, over £185,000 in donations over £1500 plus a further 94 smaller donations which do not have to be declared but to which David did refer in a blog curiously entitled “I want to make the Labour Party a Fighting Machine against the Tories“.

The two Eds are just small fry in comparison: brother Ed declared just five donors of £5000 or less, and Ed Balls just two, just short of £15,000 from popular author, Ken Follett, husband of ex-MP Barbara, and £12,925 from John Spellar MP. Andy Burnham and Diana Abbott are yet to register any donations.

4 Comments

  1. Lucite says:

    Ed Balls is Labour Cooperative. I don’t know if they offer much funding, but I bet their support helps.

  2. Robert says:

    Well I suspect if David does win the Labour party will be the losers, it Ed wins I’m not sure but he is a child of new labour and more then likely will do his best to form an alliance to get back those nasty swing voters and a few Thatcherite voters still not sure of Cameron.

    We now really do have a choice of one party, Thatcherite.

  3. Michael says:

    Im not disgusted at all at the fact David Miliband (and other candidates to a lesser extent) have been able to raise money for their campaign and for the Party.

    First, David Miliband (unlike all the other candidates) has publicly stated that one third of the money raised by him from the likes of longstanding party donors Anthony Bailey, David Sainsbury and Gulam Noon will go directly to the Labour Party. In difficult times as it is and with ugly reality of funding the party in Opposition about to sink in, he should be congratulated and not attacked.

    Secondly we also need to recognise that whoever wins the leadership campaign needs to be someone able to draw the party back from bankruptcy, raise enough money to cover the party’s existing debts, be able to hopefully convert the loans to donations, and to raise enough money to fight Lord Ashcroft’s millions come the next election.

    I for one believe that David Miliband is the only one able to do this.

    We also all need to smell the coffee a bit as otherwise we will be in a right serious mess come the new leaders election.

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