Tories blame computer problems for delay in donations reporting

Conservatives delayed reporting £635,000 in donations from Q4 2009

The Tory Party has incurred the ire of the Electoral Commission

The Conservative Party blamed "computer problems" for delays in reporting £635,000 in donations to the Electoral Commission in the last quarter of 2009.

The delay emerged in the latest quarterly report from the Commission, which showed a huge increase in political donations in the last quarter of 2009 as the parties began to gear up for the expected May 6 general election.

The Tories had raised £10m, compared with Labour's £5m and £1m from the Liberal Democrats.

Detailed and timely reporting of donations and loans to the Commission are key to ensuring the parties keep to rules designed to curb corruption.

Chief executive Peter Wardle said his Commission was "extremely disappointed " with the very high number, and value, of late reported donations, "especially from the Conservative Party", though he also criticised the Liberal Democrats and the UK Independence Party.

He said: "We have had a particularly high level of late-reported donations this quarter from the Conservative Party head office. They told us that this was the result of computer problems.

"The Electoral Commission has met party officers, who have set out plans to address these problems and return to timely reporting. The Commission will be closely monitoring the progress with those plans."

He also said all parties that reported late donations should take their obligations seriously and make every effort to report on time in future.

He added:"As the general election approaches, it's especially important that voters get all the information, on time, about how political parties are funded. "

A Conservative spokesman was unable to give details of the IT issues behind the delays.