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David Miliband received nearly as much as all the other Labour leadership candidates together during July according to the latest information from the Electoral Commission. Total registered donations were £310,685, of which David Miliband received £138,835.2. This included £50,000 from Anthony Bailey, £32,000 from Lord David Sainsbury and £10,000 from Gulam Noon.
Ed Balls received £100,000 from millionaire Blairite novelist Ken Follett, but only one other donation of £3,000.
Andy Burnham raised £22,400.
Ed Miliband’s donations came to almost exactly one third of brother David’s, but of £46,450 raised in total, the only donation above £5,000 was £28,000 from the GMB.
Diane Abbott received no donations large enough to meet registration requirements.
Many party members will be increasingly disgusted, if not surprised, at the sheer volume of money being expended on this contest that could be supporting campaigns against the ConDem cuts. It is increasingly obvious that nearly all the big money from the Blairite New Labour rump is piling in to support David Miliband. It is also important to note that, if we assume that David Miliband is not breeching the £175,000 legal limit on campaign materials, printing, postage etc, he is spending huge amounts of money paying people to work for him. This makes a mockery of the whole process, creating a totally false impression of widespread committed activism. If you get a call from the D. Miliband campaign you might ask how many paid staff are now on board.
Not surprising the establishment all want David Miliband. He’s the most right wing of all the candidates, i.e. the least appetising for Labour supporters and the most crap for working people.