Tories receiving more donations than Labour

Donations to the Conservative Party are continuing to outstrip those to Labour ahead of the next general election, according to the latest update from the Electoral Commission today.

The Tories received £5,269,186 in the third quarter of 2009 - between July and September - while Labour was gifted just £3,045,377. The Liberal Democrats were given £816,663.

Overall, donations to political donations for the quarter stood at slightly more than £9.5 million.

That was down on the £13.2 million received between April and June, although that figure was higher than usual because of the European elections in May.