MP donations: Who is funding Scottish Tory MPs?

The National utilized the Westminster Accounts database, created by Sky News and Tortoise, to see what we could discover about Scotland's six Tory MPs and who is backing them.

We have previously extensively covered the finances of the Scottish Tories, including the £100,000 given to the party by the Scottish Unionist Association Trust (SUAT), with opponents accusing the trust of being a funnel for "dark money".

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The new database collated financial information on MPs including donations, gifts, and outside earnings, as well as how much funding is given to All Party Parliamentary Groups which each member sits on, and who their biggest donors were, in the current parliamentary term. 

We used the tool to see what information was available on Scotland's six Tory MPs, ordered below by how much money they brought in, from highest to lowest. 

Douglas Ross, Moray

Ross's numerous jobs pushed him to the top of the list amongst Scottish Tories (Image: PA)

Number of declared financial interests: 77

Donations: £40,000 (6)

Gifts received: £9250 (3)

Outside earnings: £50,950

Total amount: £100,200

THE Scottish Tory party leader's double duties as an MP and MSP pushed him to the top of the list, despite coming second in the highest amount of donations.

Of the £50,950 Ross has brought in since 2019, £31,120 is in wages from the Scottish Parliament, but he has donated his MSP salary to charities in the past.

Ross's biggest donor was Alasdair Locke, former chairman of oil giant Abbot Group and now the owner of a Scottish distillery, who handed over £20,000. There were four further donations to Ross at £5000 each, from the SUAT, John S Martin, Stalbury Trustees and Alasdair N Lang.

He received three gifts from the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs (worth £7850), Salmon Scotland (worth £1000) and Diageo (£400). 

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David Mundell, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale

Mundell had the highest amount of donations than the other Tory MPs (Image: PA)

Number of declared financial interests: 16

Donations: £48,090 (12)

Gifts received: £11,850 (4)

Total amount: £59,940

MUNDELL had the highest number of donations of all the Scottish Tory MPs. 

His biggest backer was James Stewart, director of a private equity company, who handed over £14,000, followed by West Linton-based Glenrath Farms who paid out £9990, and IX Wireless, a telecoms infrastructure provider, who donated £7500. The remaining donations were all under £5000, with Tory peer Lord Philip Harris giving Mundell £2000. 

The Dumfriesshire MP was also given a gift totaling £7470 from Qatar's foreign ministry. 

Alister Jack, Dumfries and Galloway

Jack has only accepted one gift according to the database (Image: PA)

Number of declared financial interests: 10
Donations: £36,550 (9)
Gifts received: £400 (1)
Total amount: £36,950

THE Scottish Secretary was given over £11,000 by John Cooper in three separate donations. 

He is also supported by the wealthy Keswick family, with three separate members making a donation to Jack's coffers. Businessman Sir Henry Keswick gave Jack £5000, while his brother Sir Chippendale Keswick and his wife Lady Sarah Keswick both donated £5000 each. 

The one gift received by Jack was worth £400 from the Football Association Premier League.

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John Lamont, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk

John Lamont is a parliamentary under secretary in the Scotland Office as well as an MP (Image: NQ staff)

Number of declared financial interests: 7
Donations: £27,500 (4)
Gifts received: £3200 (3)
Total amount: £30,600

LAMONT'S biggest donor Ian McVeigh gave the Borders MP two separate donations of £10,000. 

Elsewhere Alice Pringle donated £5000 while Rob Harding handed over £2500.

He only received three gifts, from the Conservative Middle East Council (worth £2000), the Football Association Premier League (worth £800), and Diageo (£400). 

David Duguid, Banff and Buchan

Duguid quit his role as trade envoy during the mass resignation of ministers which forced Boris Johnson out of office (Image: PA)

Number of declared financial interests: 3

Donations: £8000 (2)

Gifts received: £1000 (1)

Total amount: £9000

DUGUID only received two donations. One from Stalbury Trustees, registered with Companies House as a firm whose business relates to “activities of political organisations”, worth £5000, and a second from Lord Phillip Harris, the Tory peer who also donated to Mundell, worth £3000.

His one gift came from Milli Majlis, the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan, worth £1000.

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Andrew Bowie, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine

Bowie backed Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership race (Image: PA)

Number of declared financial interests: 2

Donations: 0

Gifts received: £1400 (2)

Total amount: £1400
BOWIE had no donations, and only two gifts declared. One from UK Music (worth £800) and the other from German centre-right think tank Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (worth £600).

A Scottish Conservative spokesperson commented: “All of this has been declared in line with parliamentary rules.”

All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs)

Some of the Scottish Tory MPs are also members of APPGs which also take donations (Image: NQ staff)

WHILE the database took a large amount of the information from declarations made on MP's registers of interests, it also widened out to look at which APPG’s each parliamentarian sits on and how much funding the groups have been given. They are informal cross-party groups that have no official status within Westminster. 

Mundell is or was a member of 17 APGs, nine of which did not receive any outside funding. However, the other eight have taken in collectively the equivalent of £264,500.

Lamont is or has been an officer on three APPGs, two of which have not declared any outside donations. 

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The third, the Internet, Communications and Technology APPG, has taken £383,700 in donations. Its top funders are Google £39,000, BT £33,0000, CityFibre £27,000, Nominet £24,000 and TikTok £24,000.

Duguid sits on 12 APPGs, half of which (6) have no outside funding. The others took in the equivalent of £451,500 from the end of 2019. 

Bowie has or is a member of 24 separate parliamentary groups, with 13 not receiving any funding. The other 11 brought in the equivalent of £567,500.

Ross sits on five APPGs, but none receive funding, while Jack is not a member of any.