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A financial probe and £1m from an ex bookie: the truth behind Ukip

By Andrew Alderson and Robert Watts, Sunday Telegraph

Last Updated: 1:07am GMT 11/02/2007Page 1 of 3

 

 

 

Bolstered by defections from the Tories, and with his party's vote rising election by election, Nigel Farage struck a confident note as he announced plans for the future of the United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip) last week.

 

Behind the scenes, however, the party he leads faces a series of questions over funding. The euro-sceptic Ukip is being investigated by the Electoral Commission, which says that it is concerned that its most recent accounts were filed more than six months late. It is also investigating a series of "separate issues".

 

An investigation by this newspaper has also revealed that Alan Bown, a former bookmaker, has bankrolled Ukip with more than £1 million. He has provided 40 per cent of the party's declared donations in the past four years.

 

advertisementMr Bown, 64, made his fortune with a chain of 17 bookmakers, which he sold to Coral Racing five years ago. The sale netted him several million pounds, but he still owns a substantial property empire and has numerous other business interests. He is also a director of Margate Football Club and runs a company in Ramsgate, Kent, that sells Turkish nightwear to 800 clothes shops.

 

Today, however, the businessman devotes most of his energies to Ukip. Whereas most political donors take a back-seat role, Mr Bown sits on the party's 15-strong national executive committee and is the leading organiser of the party's campaigns, taking responsibility for leaflets, billboards and other promotional literature.

 

As well as vast cash donations to Ukip's bank accounts, Mr Bown also pays for the day-to-day running costs, such as hotel bills, printing costs, advertisements, telephone bills and even staff wages out of his own pocket. Two years ago he spent £6,500 on Ukip beer mats and nearly £800 on branded balloons. "I will continue to donate large chunks," said Mr Bown. "It's the only party that is telling the truth about the EU." Although his donations have been properly recorded, more than £1 million has been given to Ukip in three years which is not recorded on the Electoral Commission's central register because Ukip say these payments are "under the reportable limit".

 

This is entirely legal; however, it allowed 96 per cent of nearly £300,000 paid to the party's south-east office in 2004 not to be published on the register. Any donation of more than £5,000 to a party's headquarters must be declared. The same is true of any payment of more than £1,000 made to a party's regional office. If an individual donor breeches this limit within a calendar year, the donation must be declared to the Electoral Commission. The commission refused to provide details of its inquiries.

 

Mr Farage confirmed the Electoral Commission investigation. "Look, the accounts were late, very late and that was clearly unacceptable. It will never happen again.

 

"We are discussing three or four other compliance issues with the Electoral Commission, concerning the validity of donors and how we have listed them. I am confident we can resolve these issues."

 

Mr Farage blamed the late filing of the accounts on Ukip not being able to afford a full-time treasurer.

 

Ukip was formed in 1993 by a group of patriots who wanted to field candidates opposed to the Maastricht Treaty. Within a year, it put up candidates in 24 out of 87 seats at the European elections and secured 157,000 votes. In 2004, the party won 12 seats, polling 2.6 million votes: two Euro-MPs have since left the party to become independents.

 

The party's vote at the general election has risen from just over 100,000 in 1997 to just over 600,000 in 2005.

 

Yet Ukip's membership is falling. It currently has around 18,000 members, down from a peak of more than 26,000 two years ago. Ukip revealed last week that, as part of a fresh assault on the Conservative Party, it is likely to be renamed the Independence Party ahead of the May local government elections.

 

Mr Farage said the party wanted to appeal to voters who had been "abandoned by David Cameron". This was perhaps retaliation for an earlier claim from the Tory leader that many of Ukip's members were "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists".

 

Ukip leaders are determined to be seen as more than just an anti-EU party. Ukip has pledged to "develop a full range of domestic and foreign policies". Its logo of "Ukip" running across a giant "£" and its slogan "Let's Get Our Country Back" show only too well, however, where the party's true priority lies.