On the morning of December 3 earlier this month Guido called up one of Hain’s (until that day) undeclared financial backers to make enquiries. By that afternoon Hain had made a dash across to the Electoral Commission, allegedly entirely unrelated, to clear up a few omissions.

Sky’s Joey Jones wonders why Hain’s team is taking so long to get the information out into the open. Joey asks

So why the delay? – Is there a bigger can of worms than we had thought?

Hain’s team say they want to get their submission absolutely right. I know it may sound a bit cynical for this time of year, but I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the information got sneaked out once everyone’s headed off for the holidays…

Guido has his own suspicions. Don’t worry Peter, Guido will break away from his holidays to make sure it doesn’t go unreported. Don’t forget anything this time Peter, it would not look good if Guido had to point out an omission again…

It seems that Hain decided to pay the Electoral Commission a visit rather quickly only after he realised that Guido and the Western Mail were on his tail. Amazing how a few pointed questions can prompt a minister into action. The “shit they are on to me, I was just about to make a full confession, really” ploy.

Guido seems to better informed about Hain’s budget than he now claims to be. Back in May Guido ran this story detailing his expenditure, yet he claims to have been unaware of the figures until yesterday. Guido even helpfully uploaded the campaign’s expenditure summary for co-conspirators to download here. So how come Guido knew in May and he didn’t until yesterday. Why the under-reporting? Is it because of dodgy embarrassing donors like Mendelsohn?

Labour party rules on the leadership campaign require 15% of funds raised to go to the National Labour Party, and on September 9 this year Hain duly paid over £ 11,550.

In reality he should have paid over £13,335. He cheated his own party out of £1,785.60. Now if he worked for a private company and effectively defrauded them of commission, what would you do? Prosecute for fraudulent accounting or under the good old Theft Act?

How come Guido knew from his own campaign’s documents these figures and he didn’t? Even the most charitable interpretation is that he is recklessly incompetent. Is he really fit to be in charge of the billions allocated by the Department for Work and Pensions. Is he really the best person to be in charge of your pension?

UPDATE 20.30 : For the record Guido made his first phone-call to Huw Roberts at 12.57 today. Guido called repeatedly his office, mobile and home numbers. Huw returned the call around 15.30. The story was up on the blog by 16.07, Joe Carberry, Hain’s SpAd, told Guido at around 16.30 that the story was untrue.

Hain released a self-serving statement this evening, just in time for the 6pm news shows, saying he went to see the Electoral Commission “this afternoon”. Guido would like to know if this was arranged in advance or was it impromptu? Funny coincidence of timing.

Guido has been running up his phone bill trying to get hold of Labour fundraisers. Peter Hain’s fundraiser, Huw Roberts was kind enough to call back.

HR There is a small problem with my donation. It is not my fault. He has to declare the donations, not me.

The conversation got a bit confused and fraught at this point, Huw would only concede that he had made a donation, yet despite having held fundraising dinners for Peter Hain, he would not confirm any other donations were undeclared. No donation of any kind is recorded from Huw Roberts…

UPDATE : Have just got off the phone with Joe Carberry, Hain’s SpAd, “what you have written on the blog is not true”. So is Huw Roberts lying? “I am going to put the phone down” said Carberry. Guido gets through a lot of Hain SpAds per annum, so it is understandable.

Hain can’t seem to hold a SpAd down since Phil Taylor’s departure. Robert Philpot has gone back to Progress. Who are Hain’s SpAds nowadays? Why did Philpot leave so soon? Hain could get a Basher Davis type reputation for staff turnover at this rate…

Dizzy has this photo of the throbbing hive of activity that is Hain campaign HQ.

Are they boxes of fake tan piled up?

Hain, being ex-Liberal party lacks grassroots Labour support, hence his reliance on SpAds and lobbyists to run his campaign. Rank and file members are very tribal – he isn’t trusted.

Despite having an effectively taxpayer subsidised campaign he still has some spending to do. And according to this document that has been passed to Guido he plans to spend little short of a cool six-figures on his campaign.

The campaign’s expenditure summary can be downloaded here.

Notice no allowance made for mobile phones and Blackberries (SpAds have government issued mobiles and Blackberries, you pay for them). Hain is pressing the flesh everywhere he goes and putting the travel down to ministerial expenses (you pay again) he is hosting drinks parties for journalists (as a minister of course, nothing to do with the leadership battle, you pay for that as well).

But who is coughing up for Hain’s expensive campaign? Sleazy lobbyist Steve Morgan is running the show…

Yesterday’s request for co-conspirators to email Guido with titbits and gossip about the wannabee Number Twos produced an effluence of information, largely for some reason about Team Hain. Fascinating stuff, most of which you won’t find on Hain4Labour. On the campaign site his lengthy and detailed political biography neglects to mention that he was the president of the Young Liberals in 1977. Not a lot of policy positions either, beyond “I agree with Gordon” which he couples with the word “radical” repeatedly. However a co-conspirator has dug out the perma-tan’s policy views. In his book “The Democratic Alternative” he lists what a Hain administration would do in the first 100 days. It is heady stuff:

State-controlled authoritarian socialism, unlilateral disarmanent with CND invited to takeover the Ministry of Defence, leaving NATO, government organised anti – American demonstrations, price-controls, it is all there. Hain aims to turn Britain into a rainy version of Cuba. Is this what he means by “radical”? Does Gordon know about this?

What will Ronnie Cohen do when they nationalise his private equity investments?

…to be continued.

Politicians including Hilary Clinton think getting down with the kids requires a MySpace site. Research by Heather Hopkins at Hitwise suggests it is an ineffective way of reaching voters. In the UK MySpacers are more likely to be welfare chavs on council estates* who don’t vote. Peter Hain’s leadership campaign has a MySpace site. Is that smart targeting of his likely supporters, or just stupid?

*Heather didn’t describe them in those words.

Guido hears that Hain had a bit of a panic this morning after his campaign’s strategy and supporters list was put online. The resulting emergency conference call had a theme; “shit, what are we going to do?”

Apparently Labour staffers are in the shit, since they are supposed to be impartial. Which means Sheila Murphy, Labour’s Northern Director and Barrie Grunewald, Regional Director Yorks and Humber, will have to explain themselves to Hilary Benn and Alan Johnson, who are both in their regional care.

Life won’t be any easier for Felicity Williams, General Secretary of the Wales TUC who is in a politically restricted post, nor Lynn Glaister, Welsh Regional Officer and Arlene Ainsley – Regional Officer for the North of England.

One thing is for sure, Joe Carberry, Hain’s researcher and the author of the document along with Phil Taylor, Hain’s SpAd, are not going to be popular with the boss or his supporters after this screw up…