THE SNP has not declared a significant cash donation from a member of the public in six months, making it increasingly reliant on state funding to operate.
New Electoral Commission figures show the SNP had the lowest donations of any major party in the first quarter of 2017, at £3300, and this came was from one of its own MPs.
At the same time, the SNP was second only to Labour in the amount it received in public funds, banking £298,635 in “Short money” from the House of Commons.
Short money is given to all opposition parties to help their costs and is based on MP numbers, so if the SNP loses seats next month this funding stream will decline.
The latest figures show total party donations were £9.4m between January and March, of which £2.7m was in public funds from the Commons, the House of Lords and Holyrood.
Excluding public funds, the Tories received £5.46m in donations, Labour £2.65m, the LibDems £603,000 and Ukip £247,000.
Labour's donations included £300,000 from former F1 boss Max Mosley, son of British war-time fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley.
The threshold for declaring donations is £7500 although parties often volunteer other sums.
The Greens, Women’s Equality Party, Co-operative Party, Plaid Cymru and the Socialist Party of Great Britain all declared more than the SNP in donations from businesses and individuals.
The SNP’s £3300 came from its then MP George Kerevan, now the candidate in East Lothian.
The SNP also received the lowest non-public donations in the last quarter of 2016, when it received £4165 in cash and in kind, less than the English Democrats.
The donations comprised £2,085 cash from Glasgow Shettleston SNP MSP John Mason and a £2,080 non-cash donation from Dunfermline-based Homarna Ltd for the use of premises.
The only other outside, non-state donations in the last year have been £10,000 from a Gilbert Wilson in August and a bequest of around £20,600 in April 2016.
SNP income from public funds over the last year was £1.36m.
The level of outside donations is far below the SNP’s most prosperous period, when it received £4m between 2011 and 2015 from EuroMillions lottery winners Chris and Colin Weir.
The pair loaned the SNP £1m before the 2016 election, of which £600,000 has been repaid.
The latest figures predate the calling of the general election, but cover the first fortnight of the SNP’s campaign fund for a second independence referendum, which launched on March 13.
Meant to raise £1m in 100 days, this has so far raised around £480,000 in 71 days.
The Q1 donations for 2017 also show Labour peer Willie Haughey gave Scottish Labour £12,000, while veteran Scottish Tory fundraiser Sir Jack Harvie gave the Conservatives £20,000 in his own name and another £20,000 through a business.
Aberdeen-based Balmoral Group Holdings Ltd gave the Tories £65,000; Lerwick-based Globus (Shetland) Ltd gave £52,400; and Scottish Property Group Ltd, which although based in Glasgow is ultimately owned by Isle of Man-based Atomic Ltd, gave £40,000.
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