Gordon Brown has long been known for being generous in the extreme with taxpayers' money, but frugal with his own. This is born out by the accounts of his Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath Labour Party. These appeared on the website of the Electoral Commission the week before Christmas. It would appear that this is the first time it has published its accounts - indeed, it is the first time for any PM's local party - and they show a constituency party in one of Labour's safest seats in dire straights, with a mere 269 members, and we are told that the Cowdenbeath part "does not function" at all.
Two entries in the accounts are very Gordon Brown, however.
The first is having his fight hand man Douglas Alexander as guest speaker for the major fundraising dinner. The dinner in May 2006 grossed almost £13,000 - and the accounts record that Alexander was presented with a pen set worth only £11.99 for his efforts.
The second is this. Many MPs rent space from their local party, and pay a market rate for their space. Gordon's office arrangements are a little different. For no good reason I can think of (unless he owns the building?), the local Party says it pays him rent for the office, not the other way round. I recall Henry McLeish resigning over failing to declare the rental income arising from a sub-let of his Parliamentary office. According to Gordon Brown's Register of Interests there is no declaration of the income. Of course, the amount may be below the threshhold, but it is an interesting arrangement nonetheless - stealth charges on your own local party workers!
The final point to make is this: the accounts appeared on the 18th December, more than eight months after the legal reporting deadline of 31st March 2007. "An incompetence" perhaps, but you might recall Labour trying to hype up controversy relating to David Cameron's constituency accounts. At least these were visible as early as 16th May!
Recent Comments