While Labour’s recent donor boon has been put to good use, what with Rachel Reeves clocking up so many expensive air miles, it seems they were unprepared for the tedious admin that comes with actually running and financing a political party. The Electoral Commission (EC) has just whacked them with three fines of £200 each for repeated late reporting of donations.

The Commission published their latest investigative findings this morning, revealing they’d also found the Tories had failed to “report two donations by due date“, while the Greens and Irish Republican Socialists had also committed minor breaches. Only Labour were hit with fines – the rest were let off…

Louise Edwards, EC Director of Regulation and Digital Transformation, said:

“Where we find offences, we carefully consider the circumstances in deciding whether to impose a penalty, and if so, the level of that penalty. We take into account proportionality and a range of factors as set out in our Enforcement Policy before making our final decision. Publishing closed cases is an important part of delivering transparency in political finance in the UK.”

“In the case of the Labour Party, our investigations found seven offences related to the late reporting of donations from one of its quarterly financial reports, three of which have resulted in a sanction.”

The fines have since been paid. Enough to make one sceptical of Sir Keir’s promises about his party’s new found commitment to sound financial management…