Scottish Labour spend 3 times more than SNP at last General Election
Figures published by the Electoral Commission (EC) showed that even the Scottish Conservatives spent more than the SNP during the July 2024 ballot.
READ MORE: John Swinney sets out 3-point plan to achieve Scottish independence
It has emerged that Scottish Labour spent £2,738,924 while the Scottish Tories spent £1,999,418.
The SNP spent £779,175, a quarter of the spending limit they had available.
A total of 37 Scottish Labour MPs were elected to Westminster, compared to nine SNP MPs, six LibDems and five Scottish Tories.
It is the lowest amount the party has spent fighting a General Election since 2010, when it spent around £300,000. In 2015 they spent £1.5 million, in 2017 £1.6m, and around £1m in 2019.
In comparison, the [[SNP]] spent the highest amount of all political parties during the 2021 Holyrood election, when the party was led by former first minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The SNP put £1,468,343 into that campaign, while the Scottish Tories spent £1,359,435, and Scottish Labour £1,176,410.
James Mitchell, professor of public policy at the University of Edinburgh, told The Times that polling showing a boost to the [[SNP]] should be taken with a 'massive pinch of salt'.
'While the SNP currently leads the polls, it remains well down on 2021 with little reason to believe that will change given it lacks anything like the money, active members and momentum it [had] a decade ago, especially compared with Labour,' Mitchell said.
'The SNP today under John Swinney appears to be heading back to the time when he first led the party with much less money, a far from invigorated membership and potentially devastating revelations of incompetent management of the party's finances.
'While Labour has a significant advantage in terms of funding and, as the recent by-election once more demonstrated, hard-headed strategic thinking, it still needs to sharpen its message of hope to motivate both activists and voters. Labour has almost all its ducks in a row while the SNP's have been partially clipped.'
The [[SNP]] have also lost hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding through short money - cash given to opposition parties in the House of Commons to help with costs - after the number of their MPs was reduced.
Following the General Election, Swinney reorganised SNP HQ and cut a third of staff.
Donations to the party remain low, receiving just shy of £90,000 in the first two quarters of this year.
This included £82,614.44 in short money, a cash donation of £2584.85 and a non-cash donation of £4800.
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Daily Mail
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The National
4 hours ago
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Why didn't the SNP act when they had power in the UK?
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A Wilson Stirlingshire THE Government has recently announced changes to the Contracts for Difference scheme, with a view to speeding up the development of renewable energy projects across the country. One of the new changes to the scheme is to extend the length of contracts for onshore and offshore windfarm project development. This provides an incentive for developers bidding for new contracts, as it gives them more time to recoup their costs. The new cycle for applications to the scheme opens on August 7, 2025. This incentivising highlights the point that Pat Kane made in his article on July 12, titled 'Scotland is heading back into a cycle of 'extraction without consent'', that after oil comes wind power. He also made reference to Lesley Riddoch's equally excellent article of June 19, about the multiple windfarm applications which are currently being made across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Kane reflected back to a time when the play, The Cheviot, The Stag And The Black, Black Oil, by John McGrath dramatised the issues surrounding oil extraction in Scotland's waters, and went on to ask rhetorically, 'What kind of single dramatic 'representation' could take purchase?' in relation to the issues surrounding renewable energy generation in Scotland today. He lays down the gauntlet when he suggests that: 'Creatives worth their salt should rise to the challenge'. In the comments section at the end of his article, I did point out that in terms of dramatising the issues surrounding renewable energy being generated in Scotland, much of the problem creatives like myself face is getting our work heard. It's not that we are not offering a commentary, or perspective, on these issues, but without the following which the celebrity cult seems to generate in today's publishing world, it is hard to get your work noticed. Oblivious as to whether or not I am one of those who are 'worth their salt', I had just started the process of uploading, finalising and then releasing my latest humorous novel, An t-Eilean Dorcha (The Dark Island) at the time of his article. This was finally released in paperback on July 21 on Amazon. The novel focuses on a renewable energy project which is proposed for a small island, and the community has to evaluate its impact and consider how best to respond. My hope is that as well as providing the reader with some light entertainment and an escape from their day-to-day life, it will also, give voice to the very real concerns people have expressed about renewable energy resource generation in the Highlands and Islands. Gordon Ian MacLeod via email MUCH angst has been expressed recently about the high cost of electricity in Scotland. Hardly surprising in the UK's cradle of green, affordable generation. Disgruntled consumers may hold meetings, march, post banners and write letters – all protesting against high charges. The privatised electricity companies will ignore them, assuming that people will pay up for this essential necessity; and most probably will. In 1915, at the height of the First World War, greedy landlords in Glasgow increased rents beyond what was reasonable. Already poor people were incensed, but didn't know what to do about it. That is until local woman Mary Barbour stepped in and created an army which united in a rent strike. They surmised that if they hit the landlords in their pockets they would soon begin to squeal – and indeed it was not long before they did back down, realising that some rent was better than none. 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If this parcel of Scottish land is sold to an overseas buyer then there should be a hefty tax burden on the buyer and they should only be allowed to purchase it if everything is transparent so that the people of Scotland know who owns the land that should belong to the people of Scotland. Audrey Maceachen via email YOUR article on the electric super highway mentions a subsea cable from Fife into England. Meanwhile, Scotland is faced with giant pylons ruining the land? Our 'green' electricity, for which we are charged extortionate rates, being fed into another country. Has Mr Swinney and the [[SNP]] anything to say in this? Or is this robbery getting the silence that Grangemouth got. Jim Butchart via email
