Lottery Winners Donate More To SNP

A couple who won £161 million on the EuroMillions lottery have given another £1 million to the SNP, taking their total contribution to Scottish independence campaigners to £5.5 million.

Chris and Colin Weir donated £500,000 each to the Scottish National Party on February 10, the Electoral Commission's register of donations for the first three months of this year has revealed.

It comes on top of another £1 million they donated to the SNP in September 2011, and the £3.5 million they have donated to the Yes Scotland campaign in the last two years.

The UK Conservative Party received £6,662,232, the register shows, with over a fifth from a single donor - British-Australian hedge fund boss Sir Michael Hintze who donated £1,506,500.

Labour received £4,409,167 with two-thirds of it coming from the unions Unite, Usdaw and Unison, while the Liberal Democrats received £1,074,482.

An SNP spokeswoman said: "We thank all of our donors - big and small - for contributing to the success of the party, including consistently being ahead in the polls after eight years in government, which is a remarkable achievement.

"The SNP has never been in better shape - with a record membership of over 25,000 - and we are fighting fit to help achieve the Yes vote in September which is so important to Scotland's future."