Voters snub SNP begging bowl pleas

Voters have snubbed a desperate bid by Nationalist MPs to fund their election campaigns by begging for cash online.

Dozens of SNP candidates have launched Crowdfunder pages as they struggle to scrape together funds to pay for campaign materials.

But so far, many have barely raised a fraction of the sums required – with one candidate attracting only £45 from supporters by yesterday afternoon.

The SNP has already given candidates campaign funds. But because of its parlous financial state, they have been forced to turn to supporters to meet the cost of materials such as election leaflets.

A number of high-profile Nationalist MPs, including the party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, are scrambling for between £1,000 and £10,000 to boost their campaigns.

But in the four days following the announcement of the General Election not one managed to successfully hit their fundraising target.

Yesterday SNP depute leader Keith Brown said it was right for the party’s candidates to raise their own funds, but blamed the lack of donations on the ‘Tory delivered cost of living crisis’.

Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy said: ‘The SNP’s campaign has got off to a dire start but we know Nationalist supporters will dig deep and throw money at this election in the hope of putting independence back on the agenda.’

In total, SNP candidates are asking for a minimum of £59,500 via Crowdfunder pages. But Stephen Gethins, standing for the SNP in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, had total donations of £45 as of 3pm yesterday, only 4 per cent of his £1,000 target.

Among the 26 SNP candidates with ongoing Crowdfunder pages is Mr Flynn, who is seeking £2,000 to fight for his Aberdeen South seat. In the four days he hit 69 per cent – £1,386.

Anum Qaisar, defending her Airdrie and Shotts seat, had only five donations totalling £210 towards her target of £2,000. Edinburgh East MP Tommy Sheppard had raised only £70 yesterday, despite being an MP since 2015.

Meanwhile, Dundee Central MP Chris Law’s appeal only hit 69 per cent of his ask and Jacqueline Cameron, standing in Paisley and Renfrewshire South, hit just over 50 per cent of her target.

Defending his seat in Alloa and Grangemouth, John Nicolson is asking for £10,000 but with 26 days left to hit his target, he only had £1,145. 

Nationalist MSP Kevin Stewart defended his party’s candidates, stating that there are ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds in reserves’ and ‘this is additional to the funds they have and will be given to them from the party centrally’.

He added: ‘It looks good that we’re not in the hands of people giving millions of pounds, or the Russians, which we are not meant to be accepting these days.’

Accounts filed by the SNP last year showed it recorded a total loss of £804,278 in 2022. Last week, Police Scotland submitted a standard prosecution report to the Crown Office relating to former chief executive of the SNP Peter Murrell as part of a nearly three-year investigation into party funds.

Some Labour and Alba candidates have also used crowdfunding platforms.

Yesterday, Alba’s Chris McEleny hit £2,925 of his £10,000 target and Labour’s Ian Murray, defending his Edinburgh South seat, raised £820 towards a £2,500 target. The Scottish Tories confirmed they are not using the platforms.