Political parties recorded an 8% increase in donations between April and June this year compared with the second quarter of 2012, electoral watchdogs have reported.

Figures on donations and borrowings released today by the Electoral Commission show eleven registered political parties accepted more than £8.5m in total over this period.

The Conservative and Union Party took the lion's share with £4.1m followed in second place by the £3.1m raised by the Labour Party with the Liberal Democrats trailing in third place with just more than £800,000.

Trade unions contributing to Labour Party coffers made up four of the top five largest individual donors.  Unite gifted Labour £772,195, the GMB £485,830, Unison £458,080 and USDAW £411,137.

But in addition to donations from private sources, seven parties received a total £3.3m boost in public funding. 
 
Sources of extra cash include the Electoral Commission and the Scottish Parliament, but the main funding streams also involve sums allocated for opposition parties by the House of Commons and House of Lords – cash grants known as ‘Short' and ‘Cranborne' money respectively. 

The Labour Party received the overwhelming majority of the £1.78m Short money available, some £1.74m, while the Green Party, which received £10,412 and the Scottish National Party, which gained £43,861, took the remainder.

In terms of borrowing, the Labour Party's accounts showed outstanding loans to the tune of £12.8m compared with a £2.6m figure for the Conservative and Union Party and £345,797 for the Liberal Democrats.