AN IRVINE club which donated £100,000 into the Scottish Tories has been fined by the Electoral Commission.

The elections watchdog fined the Irvine Unionist Club £400 for “failure to provide notification of gifts to a political party exceeding £25,000”.

By law, any unincorporated association donating over £25,000 must be formally registered as a donor – however as the Times reported last year, the Irvine Unionist Club, which no longer exists, was never a registered political donor.

West of Scotland Green MSP Ross Greer, who lodged a parliamentary motion asking the party to explain the £100,000 donation made in April 2016 said: “Now we know the Irvine Unionist Club broke the law, but we’re still waiting for the Tories and their local MSP Jamie Greene to come clean.

“We need to know why they didn’t provide notification of this significant sum, where that money came from and what it was used for. Transparency in political donations is essential in protecting us from a system where rich interests wield influence from behind a veil of secrecy.

Ruth Maguire SNP MSP for Cunninghame South, said “This confirms allegations of financial wrongdoing and dodgy dealing that have been swirling around the Conservative party. But more questions remain to be answered. And the public deserve answers. It’s time the Conservatives owned up to how they got this money and where it came from.”

Conservative MSP Jamie Greene said: “The Electoral Commission has investigated the donation, and has concluded that the Trust was not exempt in terms of the 2000 Political Parties Act’s reporting requirements.

“The Trustees have accepted that they were at fault in failing to register the donation, and have paid the £400 fine. The Conservative Party was not investigated nor subject to any fine.”