Party received £5.29m from October to December

Donations to the Party in the last quarter of 2006 amounted to a healthy £5.3m - more than Labour's £2.64m and the LibDems' relatively impressive £2.32m, combined. The parties also paid back around £300k of the £60.8m they have borrowed.

Andrew Pierce revealed last week that the Party is still in debt to the tune of £8million despite selling off Smith Sq.

The Blah Party apparently received £168k!

Deputy Editor

Comments

[Scotty]

Sam, good news. Just wondering if the "£60.8m"
is a misprint?

[thatcherite]

I hope that there will be a commitment to build up the reserves of the Foundation. Michael Howard promised that the proceeds of the sale of Smith Square would be used to endow the Foundation.

I would, in fact, prefer the Party to invest in a smaller freehold building in Westminster. Millbank Tower, with its New Labour connections, is not appealing.

[Deputy Editor]

Sorry it wasn't clear Scotty - that's the total borrowing of all parties. The BBC has a breakdown here.

[Alex Forsyth]

I would, in fact, prefer the Party to invest in a smaller freehold building in Westminster.

Why not take a cue from those who believe we are showing solidarity with the downtrodden masses by holding planning to hold conferences in Manchester etc?

How about a suite in the diversity-rich OLd Kent Road, or even Whitechapel or Bow?

The party would not only save £££ on rent. By requiring staffers to use buses and minicabs, and taking VIP guests to the excellent Italian resturant at the Elephant where I once enjoyed a lunch with "Mad" Frankie Fraser they would soon be well on the road to financial recovery.

I seem to recall that when Labour moved out of Transport House they went to premises in Walworth Road, opposite the old Southwark Town Hall.

It's time for the Tories to show that their commitment to The Great Unwashed is genuine.

[Brandin McMillen]

I think that means that all of the parties owe 60.7 million pounds, but the conservatives share is 35.5 million pounds.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Last night I couldn't sleep, this was due to the shocking news I received about the whereabouts of Alex Forsyth. Basically, he's gone mad and thinks he's Ibn Battuta, and that its the year 1325.

As we speak he's got a camel in between his legs and is sat in between two enormous humps, traveling through Morocco. Regular updates to follow.....

[Geoff]

I can see Morocco out of my office window, Justin. I will keep my eyes peeled for sightings.

[Graeme Archer]

I tell you what's worrying about the Blah party -- they're running a blog vote on a rolling manifesto that's not dissimilar to 100policies.com!

[Graeme Archer]

Geoff wins the "I wish I was reading from where he is" vote of the day!

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

There's a big Georgian building at the end of my road - we could move in to it! Tottenham has excellent transport links to the City and West End. We'd save a small fortune. Am happy to get the particulars...

[Graeme Archer]

I used to promote the idea of communal living when I was a student ("I could have been a student!" "With licorice allsorts ear-rings and stripy stockings?" (A prize if you spot the reference)). I thought of a large, circular, communal bed, with one statistician for each hour of the clock face, feet towards the centre and heads toward the outer rim, with a handy computer table for each. When the bell rings in the morning we could start computing AT ONCE, without wasting time, like typical Human Workers, by brushing teeth or drinking tea or travelling to work etc. We could continue computing until energy gave out, when we'd collapse into a happy, dreamless sleep.

I don't see it catching on as an idea for party conference.

[[email protected]]

Excellent.

The Blah Party is officially more successful at fundraising than any "serious" Eurosceptic group.

Who said this country's a joke?

When the Constitution comes back, I vote the Blah Party leads the No campaign.

[Daniel VA]

"The Blah Party apparently received £168k!"

I understand that C**d N***e's (the Robert Kilroy-Silk of the blogosphere) membership application is in the post!

[thatcherite]

That's unfair on Chad, DVA - he's UKIP's Father Tim!

[Alex Forsyth]

As we speak he's got a camel in between his legs and is sat in between two enormous humps

Mistaken identity. Actually, I heard that was more your bag Justin. ;)

I never fancied making love to a camel. I'm told their halitosis is strong enough to fell a gorilla at 50 paces.

Didn't Victor Lewis-Smith claim the same was true of Tony Blair?

[Denis Cooper]

All going swimmingly, then, the donations are pouring in to the Tory party and
it will no longer need to rob the taxpayer. So it should drop that appalling idea, separate itself from the other parties, and gain respect and votes by doing so.

[Dave Bartlett]

Today's PM programme touched on party spending. Ken Clarke said that the 1997 Labour campaign, which was modelled on the Clinton US election machine, was the first big money UK election campaign. The tories then felt they had to adopt the same style to compete. He thinks a cap on party spending will be an likely, and welcome, cross party solution to the recent overspending hoo-haa.

[William Norton]

So, the Blah! Party are against everything, but also for everything, they want people to tell them what should be in their manifesto because they don't know themselves, and they've got a charismatic media-friendly leader.

Hmmmmmmm.

Bloody politicians. They're all the same, aren't they?

[malcolm]

I know I'm going to regret asking this William but who exactly are the Blah! party?