The Labour Party has announced that the surplus funds from Vaughan Gething’s campaign to win the Welsh Labour leadership will not be donated to the party. The announcement follows controversy about the environmental convictions of the company that donated £200,000 to Mr Gething’s campaign.
Sources from Mr Gething’s campaign had previously said that the money would be given to the party and that the First Minister wanted the money to be used to support diversity programmes. However the £31,000 that remains unspent from the huge war chest of £254,000 the Cardiff South and Penarth MS amassed during the leadership race will now be given to “progressive causes”.
A Welsh Labour Party spokesperson said: “As agreed by the Officers of the Welsh Executive Committee, Vaughan Gething is donating surplus funds from his campaign to wider progressive causes.”
It is understood that the decision on which causes will receive the money will be made by the Welsh Executive Committee of the Labour Party.
READ MORE: Huge sum Vaughan Gething spent in his fight to be Wales’ new First Minister revealed
READ MORE: Plaid Cymru pulls out of co-operation agreement to support the Welsh Labour government in the Senedd
Mr Gething had £31,636 remaining after the leadership race, meaning he spent £222,964, almost three times more than his rival, Jeremy Miles. Mr Miles received £58,800 in total and confirmed he spent all that during the campaign. You can see more about the donations here.
Of Mr Gething’s total sum, £200,000 came from a businessman who has been convicted of environmental offences. It has led to questions about the new First Minister’s judgement and impartiality over decisions involving David Neal’s businesses. Mr Gething, who has said he was aware of Mr Neal’s convictions before accepting the funds, denies any wrongdoing and said he declared all donations correctly and in line with the rules.
The sum was, by far, the largest donation in Welsh political campaigning history.
Any leftover money from campaigns usually goes into party coffers but, following the end of the leadership race, there was controversy over whether the Labour Party should accept it.
It would have meant the UK party, and leader Sir Keir Starmer, would have been dragged into the row as questions had been raised from both within the Labour group and outside about accepting the money. Senior Labour figures, including a member of Mr Gething’s cabinet Mick Antoniw, warned about any of the cash from Dauson Environmental Group going to the party. His defeated rival, Jeremy Miles, said he wouldn’t have taken the money, and former cabinet minister Lee Waters raised concerns in a contribution to the Senedd.
On the day the final donation amounts had to be declared – 60 days after the contest closed – a source from Mr Gething’s campaign said the First Minister wanted the money to go to supporting diversity in candidate selection.
WalesOnline had asked UK Labour a series of questions, they were not answered. The questions were:
- Why has the Labour Party accepted a donation of £31,636 from a convicted criminal?
- Is Labour leader Keir Starmer happy that the funds the party will be spending in the run up to a general election have been provided by someone who broke environmental law and then flouted court orders to clear it up
- How can Keir Starmer face the electorate on a platform of respect for the law while his party is funded by someone who breaks the law?
- Will Keir Starmer insist that the funds are returned to their source rather than absorbed into party coffers
- Has Keir Starmer spoken to Vaughan Gething in the last week over these matters? When did they last speak?
The questions were not answered.
