THE Tories were plunged into a party donors' row last night after it emerged that George Osborne secretly received almost £500,000 last year.   

Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday showed that the Shadow Chancellor was given money by some of Britain's richest people to help pay the costs of running his shadow ministerial office at Westminster.

A section headed 'G. Osborne's Donors wish Account' showed that donors who are worth a total of about £1.6billion used part of their wealth to bankroll Mr Osborne's activities last year.

The money comes from donations to the Conservatives which have been declared to the Electoral Commission.

The backers have requested that a specific amount is passed on to Mr Osborne.

But none of the donations—channelled from Tory coffers to the Shadow Chancellor's office—have been declared by Mr Osborne in the Register of Members' Interests as being used to pay his staff costs. Last night, Tory officials confirmed that other Shadow Cabinet ministers' offices were funded in this way.

Mr Osborne's secret donors include Lady Serena Rothschild from the famous banking family. She gave £190,000 to the Tory Party, all of which was passed on to Mr Osborne's office.

Hedge-fund entrepreneur Hugh Sloane funded the Shadow Chancellor to the tune of £125,000. Meanwhile, financier Sir John Beckwith—uncle of It girl Tamara Beckwith—provided £30,000.

Harris Ventures, run by carpet magnate and Tory donor Lord Harris of Peckham, gave £100,000 last year.

In an extraordinary development, Mr Osborne last night blamed the senior Commons official in charge of the register for the secrecy.

He said that Commons Registrar told him last month that he did not need to name the seven donors.

Mr Osborne said there were emails to back up his position.

But yesterday, after this newspaper obtained the donors' names, the Shadow Chancellor said that the Registrar had now admitted she could have been wrong. 'I was told that my declarations were in order,' he said in a statement. 'The Registrar has now told us that her initial advice may have been unclear.

'These donations are to the Conservative Party, they are openly declared and we have followed the rules as they were explained to us.

'All the donations over £5,000 have been declared to the Electoral Commission and are available for all to see on their website, as the law requires.'

The Registrar declined to comment last night.

In a desperate attempt to resolve the situation, Tory Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin has now referred the matter to the Commons' sleaze watchdog.

The dispute centres on whether the Shadow Chancellor should have made clear that the money was earmarked for his office by the donors.

Under Commons rules, MPs have to disclose the identities of donors of more than £1,000 if the gift is linked to their membership of the House and 'expressly tied to the Member by name'.

Labour MPs have accused Mr Osborne of exploiting a loophole in this rule.

Durham North MP Kevan Jones said: 'George Osborne should come clean on who is bankrolling his office.

'This is yet another example of the hypocrisy of the Tory Party, who lecture others on probity and donations yet have myriad scams disguising the true funders of their party.'

Mr Jones added that he would be writing to the parliamentary standards commissioner to demand an inquiry. The latest controversy erupted after this newspaper obtained a copy of the accounts for Mr Osborne's office. In a section headed 'Breakdown of Income and Expenditure', the seven donors are named with details of the £487,000 in contributions they made last year.

The document also showed that after the £359,000 staff costs of Mr Osborne's eight party aides were paid, there was a balance last month of £127,123.

Two of the donors listed are Cypriot-born millionaire Tony Yerolemou and his wife Barbara.

Astonishingly, Mr Osborne's office last night claimed that the couple—listed as having given £2,000—should not have been included. An official said further checks had revealed that the Yerolemou family had not asked for their party donation to be channelled to Mr Osborne.

The timing of the revelations will infuriate David Cameron by drawing attention away from the donations row engulfing Labour minister Peter Hain.

And in November, Mr Osborne led the charge over Labour's illegal 'proxy' donations.

The latest row has distinct echoes of that scandal, involving David Abrahams giving money via third parties, although Mr Osborne yesterday rejected the comparison.

He insisted that 'all the donations over £5,000' had been declared to the Electoral Commission by the party.

To add to Mr Osborne's embarrassment, his colleague David Willetts has listed in the Commons Register both direct gifts and donations made indirectly 'through Conservative Central Office'.

These include one from the Shadow Chancellor's secret supporter Sir John Beckwith.

Please find attached a letter relating to the above complaint from Kevan Jones MP and John Mann MP. A hard copy has been sent in the post and Mr Osborne has been informed.

You will be aware of recent articles in the press relating to the alleged failure of George Osborne MP to declare nearly £500,000 in donations to his office in his entry in the Register of Members' Interests.

We understand that Mr Osborne and the Conservative Chief Whip, Patrick McLoughlin MP, contacted the Registrar of Members' Interests for advice regarding declarations and we would be grateful if you could confirm that this is the case.

We also understand that Mr Osborne did not feel it was necessary to declare the donations because they were made to Conservative Central Office, despite the fact that it would appear the donations were specifically to meet the costs of running his office.

Mr Osborne has suggested that the reason for his failure to declare these donations is that the regulations regarding the declaration of donations are not clear. We are concerned that this should be used a defence for two reasons.

Firstly, the same justification was used to explain why House of Commons dining facilities had been used by Conservative Members for party fundraising in the last Parliament. Secondly, we note that similar donations through Conservative Central Office were declared by David Willetts MP in July 2007:

Donations have been provided through Conservative Central Office from:

Mr Peter Hall, businessman, to assist me with the employment of a senior research assistant. (Registered 17 July 2007)

Mr Charles Pugh, businessman, to assist me with the employment of an education researcher. (Registered 17 July 2007)

Mr Richard Sharp, businessman, to assist me with the employment of an education researcher. (Registered 17 July 2007)

We would therefore be grateful if you would investigate whether Mr Osborne has broken the rules of the House in not declaring nearly £500,000 in donations to his office.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any clarification.

I am writing to invite your comments on a complaint I have received from Mr Kevan Jones MP and Mr John Mann MP that you failed to register financial donations to your office in the Register of Members' Interests.

I attach a copy of the Members' letter of 14 January.

In essence, their complaint is that you failed to register donations to your office contrary to the relevant resolution of the House. Paragraph 16 of the Code of Conduct provides:

Category 4 of the Guide deals with sponsorships defined as:

And paragraph 27 gives more information about what is covered by category 4b.

I should be grateful if in accordance with the procedure set out in the enclosed note, you would send me your response to this complaint from Mr Jones and Mr Mann. It would be helpful if in doing this, you could:

I would welcome any other comments you may wish to make.

I recognise that the Registrar of Members' Interests has been involved in giving advice to your Whips Office in relation to this matter. I should make clear that she will not be assisting me therefore with this complaint. Although I expect to invite her to give me her account of what happened.

Once I have received your response, I will consider the way forward. In the meantime if you would like to speak about the complaint at any point, please do not hesitate to contact me on the number above. In any event I look forward to receiving your response.

Thank you for your joint letter of 14 January with your complaint that Mr George Osborne MP failed to register financial donations to his office in the Register of Members' Interests contrary to the relevant resolutions of the House.

I enclose a note which sets out the procedure I follow in these cases. In accordance with the procedures I am writing to Mr Osborne with a copy of your letter and inviting his response.

I will be in touch again to let you know the outcome of my inquiries.

I am copying this letter to each of your offices.

Thank you for your letter of 15 January and for giving me an opportunity to respond to the specific points which you have put to me about my declaration of Members' Interests.

Let me say from the outset that I have always sought to comply fully with the rules governing the declaration of Members' Interests, as I have understood them and as they have been explained to me.

It is, of course, entirely a matter for you to decide whether you wish to proceed with a full inquiry into the complaint against me. I would only ask you to take into consideration the fact that a significant number of my colleagues in Shadow Cabinet have followed the same practice that I have, and received the same advice that I have.

It was precisely because of the more general application of the issue under investigation that Patrick McLoughlin MP, the Opposition Chief Whip, wrote to the Clerk of the Committee on Standards and Privileges on Friday 11th January asking for a clarification of the general issue of how staff employed by the Conservative Party to support Members in the exercise of their frontbench responsibilities should be registered, when donations have been made to the central Party but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

Let me now address your specific points you put to me in your letter.

There are three sources of resources for my office.

First, there are the parliamentary allowances. I use these to employ and support three members of staff who assist me in my role as a constituency MP. Ms A and Ms B both work from home. Ms C works in my office in Parliament. She also carries out general office functions such as answering the phone and keeping my diary.

Second, there is the £25,000 which I received both in April 2006 and April 2007 from Mr Simon Robertson. This money goes into a bank account entitled Office of George Osborne MP and I am the sole signatory on the account. This money is used to pay for the expenses I incur in my role as Shadow Chancellor and as the Conservative Party's General Election Co-ordinator, for example foreign travel, external consultants' fees and taxi fares. Although this money is used to support my activities as Shadow Chancellor rather than as a Member of Parliament, this money is directly received by me and controlled by me. It would not automatically be transferred to someone else if I ceased to be Shadow Chancellor. Therefore I felt it was right to declare this money to the Register of Members' Interests and to the Electoral Commission—which I did within the required time limits on both 28^th April 2006 and 19^th April 2007. From 30^th January 2006 until 4th January 2007 I also received a monthly sum of £10,000 from Lord Harris of Peckham into the same bank account for the same purposes. It was not used to employ staff and it would not have been transferred to someone else if I ceased to be Shadow Chancellor. This money was also registered within the required time limits with the Register of Members' Interests and the Electoral Commission by me.

Third, there are the members of staff employed by the Conservative Party (CCHQ) and who report to me in my capacity as Shadow Chancellor and General Election Co-ordinator rather than as a Member of Parliament. There are currently six members of the CCHQ staff, on CCHQ contracts, who report directly to me. A further two staff did report to me last year but are now employed elsewhere in CCHQ.

These members of staff assist me in my duties as Shadow Chancellor, which include developing the economic policy of the Conservative Party. Further, they assist in the development of policy throughout the Party, including in education, welfare, health, and home affairs, and assist in the campaigning activities of the Party. They advise the Leader and other members of the front bench on economic and financial issues, and regularly accompany the Leader on economic and finance-related visits. They also work as advisers to, and press officers for, junior Shadow Treasury Ministers. They would continue to be employed by CCHQ if I ceased to be Shadow Chancellor or a member of the frontbench, or indeed, if I ceased to be a Member of Parliament.

Furthermore, as Election Co-ordinator all members of staff at CCHQ assist me, at my request, and report to me on specific issues. These staff are paid for by the general resources of the Conservative Party, resources provided by all the donations made to the Party.

As I understand it, four donors to the Conservative Party—Lord Harris, Jeremy Isaac, Julian Schild and Sir John Beckwith—expressed a wish that their donations be used to support the activities of the Shadow Chancellor's team. These donations totalled £180,000 in the calendar year 2007. I was aware of this, although the donations were originally solicited by the Treasurers department at CCHQ. These donations were received and accepted by the Conservative Party, declared to the Electoral Commission in a timely way and banked in the party's general bank accounts, and not separated. There was no guarantee given that the money would be used to employ staff who reported to me. Within the internal accounts of the Conservative Party, these donations (along with donations to the Conservative Party from Hugh Sloane, Lady Rothschild and Mr and Mrs Yerolemou who expressed a wish to support the Shadow Cabinet in general) were recorded as being assigned to pay for the members of CCHQ staff who directly reported to me.

I have always sought to comply with the requirements of the Register of Members' Interests as I understood them and as they were explained to me.

When I joined the Shadow Cabinet in 2005 I drew a distinction—as did other members of the Shadow Cabinet—between the financial support I received as a Member of Parliament and the staff support from CCHQ I received as a member of the Shadow Cabinet. I believed that under the terms of Category 4 of the Members' Code of Conduct I did not need to register the staff support I received as Shadow Chancellor from CCHQ or the donations that were made to the Conservative Party that were linked to the employment of that staff.

That was because:

I did not believe, therefore, that the donations could be said to be indirectly supporting me in my role as a Member of Parliament, which is what Category 4(b) of the Code covers.

As I explained above, although the money received from Simon Robertson and (until 4 January 2007) from Lord Harris is used to support my role as Shadow Chancellor, because it was received by me and controlled by me I felt it was right—because the donations were specifically for me and would not be automatically transferred if I ceased to be a member of the frontbench that these donations should be registered both with the Register of Members' Interests and the Electoral Commission.

In drawing these various distinctions I have been guided by the general practice pursued by a number of members of the Shadow Cabinet. In December 2007 I sought the specific advice of the Opposition Chief Whip, who then spoke to the Registrar of Members' Interests. I elaborate on that advice later in this letter.

On January 11th 2008 I was told that the Mail on Sunday newspaper had obtained an internal Conservative Party spreadsheet with details about the staff who reported to me and the donations of those who had either expressed a wish to support staff reporting to me or who had expressed a wish to support staff reporting to the Shadow Cabinet. Within two hours of receiving this news I went to see the Registrar, accompanied by the Opposition Chief Whip's special adviser. I explained to the Registrar some of the issues set out above, and showed her the spreadsheet in question. I also showed her the email exchange she had had with the special adviser. The Registrar said to me that the there was an argument that support received from CCHQ should be registered, but that this was a 'grey area' and that the advice she had given had been 'unclear'.

The Registrar said that she would recommend to you that you raise it with the Committee on Standards and Privileges in order to get clarification of the rules. We discussed whether Patrick McLoughlin should do likewise.

I was not personally aware that David Willetts had registered donations to CCHQ that were linked to him until last week. The issue of how CCHQ staff who reported to Shadow Cabinet Members should be registered, and the donations that supported their employment, was raised at the Shadow Cabinet meeting I attended on 4th December 2007 as part of a general discussion on compliance with the rules.

My Chief of Staff was told by Patrick McLoughlin MP on 10th December that he had checked with the Registrar of Members' Interests about the way CCHQ staff should be registered and that my entry in the Register of Members' Interests was correct.

To help with your preliminary inquiry into the complaint against me I asked Patrick McLoughlin to provide me with a letter setting out his version of events. The account in the letter accords with my understanding at the time.

Mr McLoughlin's letter sets out the version of events as I also recall them. I was aware that he had spoken to the Registrar of Members' Interests. I was aware that he had covered a number of different issues with her. I believed that among those issues was the issue of how to register CCHQ staff who reported to me, and the donations to CCHQ that helped support their employment.

I enclose a copy of Patrick McLoughlin's letter and a copy of the internal CCHQ spreadsheet that was seen by the Mail on Sunday.

It goes without saying that I wish to co-operate fully with your preliminary inquiry and would be happy to provide any further information you require, or come to see you to clarify any issues you have.

You have shown me a copy of John Lyon's letter dated 15th January 2008, and I hope that this will help with the final two bullet points made on the second page.

As Chief Whip, I issue advice to every frontbencher which states that "we must ensure that we abide scrupulously by the rules of the House relating to the registration and declaration of outside interests". Members are also advised to consult the Members' Code of Conduct [See Appendix 1].

My understanding in relation to donations made to Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), is that the only possible category which these might fall under has been Category 4 as detailed in the Code of Conduct.

Paragraph 26 of the Code explicitly stated that "Category 4(a) deals with financial contributions to constituency associations" [italics as in the Code].

Paragraph 27 states that "Category 4(b) covers support from which the Member receives any financial or material benefit in support of his or her role as a Member of Parliament". Donations which are made to CCHQ and linked to frontbench roles rather than to Members of Parliament were thought to fall outside of this category, especially when they fund CCHQ staff on CCHQ contracts who are assigned to support the position rather than a particular member.

I therefore understood that donations to CCHQ did not need to be declared in the Register. I have always been clear that donations directly to Shadow Cabinet members for their own use and direction must be declared. This explains, for example, David Willetts declaration of support in the register and indeed your declaration of support from Simon Robertson.

I was confident that all of our arrangements were in order, including yours. However, following a series of news stories in late 2007, at the weekly Shadow Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 4th December I was asked to check that all Shadow Cabinet arrangements with (a) the Register of Members' Interests and (b) the Electoral Commission were indeed in order.

Given the complexity of the rules, it was thought prudent to make sure everyone understood these thoroughly.

I, and my special adviser, therefore met informally with the Registrar for Members' interests, on the afternoon of Wednesday 5th December. We discussed the differences between, and requirements of, the Register of Members' Interests and the Electoral Commission, and I asked the Registrar to provide a note on where the declarations overlapped. She did so by email on Thursday 6th December. [See Appendix 2]

My special adviser followed up this note with a call on the morning of Friday 7th December. She asked the Registrar whether the distinction the Electoral Commission made of donations to an MP as an office holder rather than to the MP as his or herself, also held for the Register of Members' interests. She was informed that if a donation to a constituency association was "linked by name" it should be declared. When asked whether the same would apply for a donation made to Conservative central office and "linked" in any way to a frontbencher, The Registrar said the rules were likely to be the same but it depended on the nature of the donation. Immediately after this conversation, the Registrar emailed my special adviser stating:

On Monday 10th December I, and my special adviser, met with George Osborne's Chief of Staff, as well as the Chief of Staff to David Cameron. I outlined the advice I had received, and confirmed that the way in which the donations had been recorded was indeed correct.

When I was asked at the weekly Shadow Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 4th December to check what needed to be registered with (a) the Register of Members' Interests and (b) the Electoral Commission, I notified the Shadow Cabinet that I intended to speak to the Registrar of Members' Interests.

Subsequently on Monday l0th December, I was able to tell George Osborne's Chief of Staff and the Chief of Staff to David Cameron that I had met with the Registrar, and that the advice I had received confirmed that the donations were in order.

Subject to the conditions laid out in, and strict adherence to, the Code of Conduct 2005, the accompanying Guide (HC 351), and the 9th Report of the Committee on Standards and Privileges of Session 2001-02, Shadow Ministers are permitted to have outside interests.

The advice that is given to Members at present is that fees under 1 per cent of a Member's salary (currently £600) do not have to be registered unless the Member believes that not to register would not be upholding the general purpose of the Register. The Committee on Standards and Privileges has deprecated the registration (other than in exceptional circumstances) of interests which are not required to be registered.

Fees from a single source that amount (either individually or cumulatively in the course of a calendar year) to more than 1 per cent of a Member's salary (currently £600) should be registered as soon as they reach that threshold. The entry in the Register should specify the source of the payment and, if the Member is providing services in their capacity as a Member of Parliament, the amount by £5,000 band.

If a Shadow Minister is providing services in their capacity as a Member of Parliament, an agreement for the provision of services should be deposited with the Registrar for public inspection. This should include the words: 'We do not expect x to engage in any form of advocacy as defined in the Resolution of the House of Commons of 6 November 1995' [or a similar phrase]. This requirement does not apply in respect of work for the media or speaking engagements.

Where a Member is a director of, or employed by, a company and personally provides to clients of that company, either directly or indirectly, services which depend essentially on, or arise out of, the Member's position as a Member of Parliament, the names of those clients, together with the nature of their business, should be listed under Category 3 as being clients of the company. The company itself should be registered under Category 1 or Category 2 as set out above.

Shadow Ministers must take particular care to conform to the expectations and requirements of the House in disclosing interests and must avoid any conflict of interest between their Shadow Ministerial responsibilities and activities outside Parliament.

There are exceptions to this, which include the Shadow Law Officers, but the rules are in place to avoid accusations of advocacy in favour of a personal commercial interest (see Guide to the Rules, paragraphs 71 to 82) and should be regarded seriously. The Shadow Law Officers are, nonetheless, reminded that they should register an interest if they continue to practice at the Bar and they should consider doing so even if they are not currently practicing.

When taking part in debates in the House of Commons, attending meetings or engaging in correspondence with other Members or officials, Shadow Ministers should orally declare any relevant pecuniary interest, whether or not it is required to be registered and whether it is direct or indirect, current, immediately past, or expected.

In addition to complying with the requirements of the House so far as the registration and declaration of interests are concerned, Shadow Ministers should notify the Deputy Chief Whip of any new interest that needs to be registered and, if in doubt, his advice should be sought prior to taking on any new interest.

Shadow Ministers should take particular care to ensure that any relevant interest is declared on any Motion, Amendment, Prayer or Parliamentary Question that you table yourself or that is tabled on your behalf. This includes applications for Urgent Questions, daily or Westminster Hall adjournment debates, or SO24 debates. If your name is to appear on any Motion, Amendment or Prayer to be tabled by the Chief Whip's Office, you will be informed and asked if you have any interest that should be declared.

If in any doubt about the practical application of these rules, the Registrar of Members' Interests is always available to Members for consultation and advice on any point of interpretation of the rules of the House.

Shadow Ministers should not solicit fees for broadcasting, speaking engagements and articles. Fees should not be accepted if the subject matter relates directly to your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

Fees may be accepted for speeches, broadcasts, articles, etc on subjects not related to your Shadow Ministerial responsibility, although the usual conventions about consulting the relevant Shadow Minister and the rules of the House regarding the declaration of interests still apply.

I promised Mr McLoughlin written confirmation of the areas of interest where Members must register both with me and also, under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), with the Electoral Commission.

I hope the following brief summary will be helpful, but Mr McLoughlin might also like to consult the Electoral Commission for more detail.

The Electoral Commission is interested in 'political donations'. Benefits personal to the Member (e.g.tickets to sporting events) are not of interest to them.

The areas of overlap are concentrated in Categories 4 (Sponsorship) and 6 (Overseas visits). In the case of the latter, their threshold is higher than ours—they do not require the registration of visits worth £1000 or less.

There are also a few interests which we register under Category 5 (Gifts, benefits and hospitality (UK)) which are regarded by the Commission as political donations which need to be registered with them if they are worth more than £1000—car parking passes or web-site design (if worth more than £1000) are examples of these.

Under PPERA, it is the responsibility of the Member to report appropriately to the Electoral Commission. It has recently become the practice of this office to advise Members to consult the Commission if it appears to us that an interest should be registered with them, but I must emphasise that this is a purely informal arrangement and does not absolve Members from the responsibility for being aware of, and complying with, their obligations under the Act. Nor can this office advise, except in general terms, about the requirements of the Act.

This office and the Committee on Standards and Privileges are aware of some dissatisfaction among Members that they have to register the same interest twice. The Electoral Administration Act 2006 opens up the possibility of a 'one-stop shop' for reporting where the requirements overlap, and it is hoped that the House will, before too long, be given the opportunity to consider the implications of such a system and decide whether it wishes to implement it.

I hope this helps

I think I misled you just now. The register deals with donations to a member's constituency association and not to central offices. Sorry.

Total			Staff										Donors		Cabinet Office
						AP & Mrs B Yerolemou	S Rothschild	Mr J Schild	Mr J Isaac	John Beckwith	Hugo Sloane	Harris Venture		G Osborne
-
65,704.73											25,000.00
12,619.04											25,000.00			-	Jan -07
7,619.04								20,000.00				10,000.00		-	Feb-07
1,522.04						2,000.00						10,000.00		-	Mar-07
16,199.34										30,000.00		10,000.00		-	Apr-07
8,853.61									20,000.00			10,000.00		-	May-07
10,872.24												10,000.00		-	Jun-07
11,260.33												10,000.00		-	Jul-07
11,062.53												10,000.00		-	Aug-07
171,006.17							190,000.00					10,000.00		-	Sep-07
26,973.66												10,000.00		-	Oct-07
56,611.26											75,000.00	10,000.00		-	Nov-07
18,388.74												10,000.00		-	Dec-07
127,123.51		359,876.49			487,000.00	2,000.00	190,000.00	20,000.00	20,000.00	30,000.00	125,000.00	100,000.00			TOTAL

I am writing to invite your comments on a complaint I have received from Mr Kevan Jones MP and Mr John Mann MP that Mr George Osborne MP failed to register financial donations to his office in the Register of Members' Interests.

The essence of the complaint against Mr Osborne is that he failed to register donations made by identifiable donors to Conservative Central Office which were used specifically to meet the costs of running his Shadow Chancellor's office. The question is whether such a failure is contrary to paragraph 4b of the Rules. I attach a copy of the letter.

I sought a response from Mr Osborne. I enclose a copy of his reply together with the attachments he sent me.

In essence, Mr Osborne believes the donations in question were not registrable under the rules because:

He does not consider that the donations could be said to be indirectly supporting his role as a Member of Parliament and so were not registrable under Category 4b of the Code.

He notes that the Opposition Chief Whip's office had consulted you in December which concluded with your e-mail of 7 December 2007 and that in a meeting on 11 January 2008 you accepted that the advice you had given had been unclear.

I would be grateful if in accordance with the procedures set out in the enclosed note, you could assist me in my consideration of this complaint. In particular:

I would welcome any other comments you may wish to make.

Thank you for your letter of 18 January with your response to my letter to you of 15 January following up the complaint from Mr Kevan Jones and Mr John Mann. I was grateful to you for sending me this response and for doing it so speedily.

Before coming to a view on the way forward, I have decided that I would like to take the view of the Registrar of Members' Interest as intimated in my letter to you of 15 January. In particular, I would like her advice on her understanding of the current policy and her perception of the nature of the exchanges she had with you and with the Chief Whip's office.

I will be back in touch when I have received and considered her reply.

I understand that you are looking at the question of how George Osborne should declare financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters towards the Shadow Chancellor's office, when donations have been made to the central party but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

As you are aware, a number of other members of the Shadow Cabinet receive funding from Conservative Campaign Headquarters for their Shadow Cabinet work on a similar basis.

I thought it might therefore be helpful if I made you aware of the position with regard to my own office.

In my capacity as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my Opposition team receives financial support from Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In my case, CCHQ has informed me that it has received donations of more than £1,000 intended for this purpose from Mr Peter Hall, a businessman. These have helped to provide staff who support the Shadow Defra team in carrying out our Frontbench responsibilities.

The funds concerned would continue to be deployed on the Defra portfolio if I left the Frontbench. To illustrate this point, Peter Hall was introduced by my predecessor in the Defra role (although he made no payment until after I had taken up my present responsibilities).

The donations were received and accepted by the Conservative Party, declared to the Electoral Commission as a donation to the Party if more than £5,000, and banked in the Party's general bank account. This support helps my team fulfil their Frontbench roles, and does not support me in my role as a Member of Parliament.

I should make clear that I have always endeavoured to comply with the rules governing the registration of Members' Interests as I have understood them. But should you decide that further declarations are necessary, I would of course fully comply with your guidance.

I would be very happy to talk to you about the support my team receives from CCHQ if this would be helpful, and to provide further information or clarification if you need it.

I understand that you are looking at the question of how George Osborne should declare financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters towards the Shadow Chancellor's office, when donations have been made to the Central Party, but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

As you are aware, a number of other members of the Shadow Cabinet receive funding from Conservative Campaign Headquarters for their Shadow Cabinet offices on a similar basis.

I thought it might, therefore, be helpful if I made you aware of the position with regard to my own office.

In my capacity as Shadow Home Secretary my office receives financial support from Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In my case, CCHQ has informed me that it has applied the following donations of more than one thousand pounds (£1000.00) for this purpose:

Harris Ventures Limited, Philip Harris House, IA Spur Road, Orpington, Kent

BR6 OPH (November 2006, December 2006, January - November 2007)

Midlands Industrial Council, 3 High Street, Bassingham, Lincs LN5 9JZ

(November 2007)

These donations help provide staff who support me in carrying out my Front Bench responsibilities. These staff would continue to be employed on that Portfolio if I left the Front Bench or moved to another responsibility. They provide support to the Party more generally on Home Office matters, including the Leader's office and other members of the Home Office team.

The first of these donations, from Harris Ventures Limited, was raised by the Party Treasurer's Department in order to help fund my office. I was not party to the raising of this money, my involvement being confined to writing a letter of thanks after the money had been raised.

It was my understanding that such donations, and the staff support that they paid for, did not require declaration under the Members' Code of Conduct, but were properly included in the amounts declared by the Party to the Electoral Commission. The donation received from the Midlands Industrial Council in November 2007 will be included in the Conservative Party's next quarterly report to the Electoral Commission, which is due by 30 January 2008.

In autumn 2007, I was asked by the Party Treasurer's Department to approach the Midlands Industrial Council to provide financial support to fund staff in my office. This I did, which led to the donation of forty thousand pounds (£40,000.00).

However, since I had myself been involved in raising the money, I decided to enter this donation with the Members' Register—above and beyond the normal requirement, as I understood it.

I should make clear that I have always endeavoured to comply with the rules governing the registration of Members' interests as I have understood them, but should you decide that further declarations are necessary, it goes without saying that I would fully comply with your guidance.

I would be happy to talk to you about the support my office receives from CCHQ if this would be helpful and to provide further information or clarification if you need it.

I understand that you are looking at the question of how George Osborne should declare the financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters for the Shadow Chancellor's office, where donations have been made to the central party but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

As you are aware, a number of other members of the Shadow Cabinet receive funding from Conservative Campaign Headquarters for their Shadow Cabinet offices.

I thought it might therefore be helpful if I made you aware of the position in my own office.

In my capacity as Shadow Secretary of State for Business my office receives financial support from Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In my case CCHQ has informed me that it has allocated part of a donation of more than £1,000 for this purpose. It was a donation from:

Mr Ian Taylor [...]

This donation helps provide one member of staff who supports me in carrying out my frontbench responsibilities. The donation was received and accepted by the Conservative Party, declared to the Electoral Commission as a donation to the Party as it was more than £5,000, and banked in the Party's general bank account. This support helps me fulfil my frontbench role, and does not support me in my role as a Member of Parliament.

I should make clear that I have always endeavoured to comply with the rules governing the registration of Members' Interests as I have understood them. But should you decide that further declarations are necessary, I would of course fully comply with your guidance.

I would be very happy to talk to you about the support my office receives from CCHQ if this would be helpful, and to provide further information or clarification if you need it.

I understand that you are looking at the question of how George Osborne MP should declare financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters towards the Shadow Chancellor's office, when donations have been made to the central party but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

As you are aware, a number of other members of the Shadow Cabinet receive funding from Conservative Campaign Headquarters for their Shadow Cabinet offices on a similar basis.

I thought it might therefore be helpful if I made you aware of the position with regard to my own office.

In my capacity as Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families my office receives financial support from Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In my case, CCHQ has informed me that it has applied the following donations of more than £1,000 for this purpose:

Mr. Hilton Nathanson

[...]

13th November 2007

Mr George E.S. Robinson

[...]

28th November 2007

Mr. Edmund Lazarus

[...]

4th December 2007

Mr. Mark Florman

[...]

17th December 2007

Mr. Romie Tager QC

[...]

18th December 2007

Mr. Alan Jacobs

[...]

18th December 2007

Mr. Adrian Beecroft [...]

[...]

21st December 2007

These donations help provide staff who support me in carrying out my Frontbench responsibilities. The donations were received and accepted by the Conservative Party, declared to the Electoral Commission as a donation to the Party if more than £5,000, and banked in the Party's general bank account. This support helps me fulfil my Frontbench role, and does not support me in my role as a Member of Parliament.

The donors listed above were kind enough to give money to the Party following two events which were organised to discuss the Party's education policy at which I spoke. Following the events the individuals concerned contacted the Party's Treasurers' Department expressing a wish to support the Party with donations which they hoped would help the work of policy development in education. I have listed the days on which the cheques were received which all fell within the last six weeks of last year.

I should add that in my previous role as Shadow Housing Spokesman, I talked to a variety of individuals about Conservative housing policy. Some of them expressed an interest in supporting policy development in this area. I understand they were kind enough to donate to the Party following my move from the Housing portfolio to shadow the Department of Children, Schools and Families. I do not know the identities of all those who did donate but it is my understanding that this was another example of individuals expressing a wish which was not tied to a specific personality but rather to a broader policy development goal.

I should make clear that I have always endeavoured to comply with the rules governing the Registration of Members' Interests as I have understood them. But should you decide that further declarations are necessary, I would of course fully comply with your guidance.

I would be very happy to talk to you about the support my office receives from CCHQ if this would be helpful, and to provide further information or clarification if you need it.

I know you are looking at the question of how George Osborne should declare financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters towards the Shadow Chancellor's office, when donations have been made to the central party but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

I would like to inform you of the position with regard to my own office.

In my capacity as Shadow Foreign Secretary my office receives financial support from Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In my case, CCHQ has informed me that it has applied the following donation of more than £1,000 for this purpose:

Mr Alan Morgan [...]

This donation helps provide one member of staff who supports me in carrying out my Frontbench responsibilities. That member of staff would continue to be employed on foreign affairs if I left the Frontbench. The donation was received and accepted by the Conservative Party, declared to the Electoral Commission as a donation to the Party of more than £5,000, and banked in the Party's general bank account. This support helps me fulfil my Frontbench role, and does not support me in my role as a Member of Parliament

I have always declared other donations when they have come directly to my office. Should you decide that further declarations are necessary, I would of course comply fully with your guidance.

Please let me know of any guidance on the matter, or if you need any further information.

I understand that you are looking at the question of how George Osborne should declare financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters towards the Shadow Chancellor's office, when donations have been made to the central party but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

As you are aware, a number of other members of the Shadow Cabinet receive funding from Conservative Campaign Headquarters for their Shadow Cabinet offices on a similar basis.

I thought it might therefore be helpful if I made you aware of the position with regard to my own office.

In my capacity as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my office receives support from Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In my case, CCHQ has informed me that it has applied the following donations of more than £1,000 for this purpose:

Additionally I receive support from CCHQ through the provision of a press officer and a research officer.

The donations were raised by Hugo Swire MP, who previously held the post of Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in order to help support his role as a Shadow Cabinet member. I inherited that support when I took over as Shadow Secretary of State in July 2007, which I trust makes it clear that it was always intended and used as support for a frontbench role rather than support for the parliamentary work of a particular individual.

The donations are not for use in my role as a constituency MP.

The donations were received and accepted by the Conservative Party, declared to the Electoral Commission as a donation to the Party if more than £5,000, and banked in the Party's general bank account.

I should make clear that I have always endeavoured to comply with the rules governing the registration of Members' Interests as I have understood them. But should you decide that further declarations are necessary, I would of course fully comply with your guidance.

I would be very happy to talk to you about the support my office receives from CCHQ if this would be helpful, and to provide further information or clarification if you need it.

You are looking at the question of how George Osborne should declare financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) towards the Shadow Chancellor's office, when donations have been made to the central party but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

As you are aware, a number of other members of the Shadow Cabinet receive funding from CCHQ for their Shadow Cabinet offices on a similar basis.

I thought it might therefore be helpful if I made you aware of the position with regard to my own office. In my capacity as Shadow Secretary of State for Health, my office receives financial support from CCHQ. In my case, CCHQ has informed me that it has applied the following donations of more than £1,000 for this purpose:

These donations help provide staff who support me in carrying out my Frontbench responsibilities. These staff would continue to be employed on that portfolio if I left the Frontbench. The donations were received and accepted by the Conservative Party and banked in the Party's general bank account. This support helps me fulfil my Frontbench role, and does not support me in my role as Member of Parliament.

I would like to add that I did not solicit money, and I did not receive it. Except for two lunches organised by the Treasurer's Department at CCHQ, I have neither had a conversation with a donor nor have I received any correspondence from them. At neither lunch, when I was present, was the issue of donations discussed with me, nor was I involved in the follow-up work which is managed by the Treasurer's Department.

I should make clear that I have always endeavoured to comply with the rules governing the registration of Members' Interests as I have understood them. But should you decide that further declarations are necessary, I would of course fully comply with your guidance.

I would be very happy to talk to you about the support my office receives from CCHQ if this would be helpful, and to provide further information or clarification if you need it.

I understand that you are looking at the question of how George Osborne should declare financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters towards the Shadow Chancellor's office, when donations have been made to the central party but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

As you are aware, a number of other members of the Shadow Cabinet receive funding from Conservative Campaign Headquarters for their Shadow Cabinet offices on a similar basis.

I thought it might therefore be helpful if I made you aware of the position with regard to my own office.

In my capacity as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office my office receives financial support from Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In my case, CCHQ has informed me that it has applied a donation by John Coldman of more than £1,000 for this purpose. This donation was made in December 2007. I have known John Coldman for many years, and have been involved with soliciting donations from him previously, which have previously been donations to the party without any expressed wish for the funds to be applied in any particular way. In this instance he made a donation similar in size to his last donation, but in this instance we agreed that he would ask for half the donation to be used to support my office.

This donation helps provide a member of staff who supports me in carrying out my Frontbench responsibilities. The donation was received and accepted by the Conservative Party, declared to the Electoral Commission as a donation to the Party, and banked in the Party's general bank account. This support helps me fulfil my Frontbench role, and does not support me in my role as a Member of Parliament.

It is worth pointing out that in 1998 when I was Shadow Chancellor CCHQ employed several members of staff who were attached to my office, whose costs were supported by donors who had expressed a wish that the funds should be applied in this way. This of course predated PPERA and the Electoral Commission, so there was no statutory requirement to declare general donations. My recollection is that we were advised at the time that it was not necessary to register these donations in the House of Commons Register as they were donations to the party centrally in order to support staff employed by the party centrally.

I should make clear that I have always endeavoured to comply with the rules governing the registration of Members' Interests as I have understood them. But should you decide that further declarations are necessary, I would of course fully comply with your guidance.

I would be very happy to talk to you about the support my office receives from CCHQ if this would be helpful, and to provide further information or clarification if you need it.

I understand that you are looking at the question of how George Osborne should declare financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters towards the Shadow Chancellor's office, when donations have been made to the central party but donors have expressed a wish as to how that money is spent.

As you are aware, a number of other members of the Shadow Cabinet receive funding from Conservative Campaign Headquarters for their Shadow Cabinet offices on a similar basis.

I thought it might therefore be helpful if I made you aware of the position with regard to my own office.

In my capacity as Shadow Housing Minister, my office receives financial support from Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In my case, CCHQ has informed me that it has applied the following donations of more than £1,000 for this purpose:

These donations help provide staff who support me in carrying out my Frontbench responsibilities.

In my case the arrangement commenced with Michael Gove, as the previous incumbent in my role and the funding from CCHQ followed the portfolio when I became Shadow Minister.

The donations were received and accepted by the Conservative Party and declared to the Electoral Commission as a donation to the Party if more than £5,000, and banked in the Party's general bank account. This support helps me fulfil my Frontbench role, rather than my role as a Member of Parliament.

I should make it clear that I have always endeavoured to comply with the rules governing the registration of Members' Interests as I have understood them. But should you decide that further declarations are necessary, I would of course fully comply with your guidance.

I would be very happy to talk to you about the support my office receives from CCHQ if this would be helpful, and to provide further information or clarification if you need it.

I understand that you are looking at the question of how George Osborne should declare financial support he has received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters towards the Shadow Chancellor's office when donations have been made to the central party but donors have expressed a wish as to how the money is spent.

As you are aware, a number of Shadow Cabinet Members receive funding from Conservative Campaign Headquarters on a similar basis.

I thought it might therefore be helpful if I made you aware of the position with regard to my own office.

In my capacity as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, my office receives financial support from Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In my case, CCHQ has confirmed that it has applied the following donations of more than £1000 for this purpose:

Molyneaux Management Services Ltd

(Catherine House, 76 Gloucester Place, London, WlU 6HJ)

May 2006 and March 2007

Patrick Evershed

[...]

October 2006

Edward Lee

[...]

December 2006

David Macmillan

[...]

September 2007

Hilton Nathanson

[...]

October 2007

These donations help provide staff who support me in carrying out my front bench responsibilities and who moved with me from my previous role as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. They have also been used to cover some other expenses related to my attendance at the Conservative Party Conference October in 2007 (and staff related expenses at the conference). The donations were received and accepted by Conservative Campaign Headquarters (though in a number of instances, cheques payable to the Conservative Party were sent first to me and I forwarded them on to CCHQ). These donations were declared to the Electoral Commission as a donation to the Party if more than £5000 and banked in the Party's general bank account. This support helps me fulfil my frontbench role and does not support me in my role as Member of Parliament.

In most instances, I assisted in raising the money, in particular by attending and helping to organize a number of dinner discussions.

I should make clear that I have always endeavoured to comply with the rules governing the register of Members' Interests as I have understood them. But should you decide further declarations are necessary, I would of course fully comply with your guidance.

I would be happy to talk to you about the support my office receives from CCHQ if this would be helpful and to provide further information or clarification if you need it.

Thank you for your letter of 24 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

For completeness, it would be helpful to know the date or dates of the contributions made for the benefit of your Shadow Office by Mr Peter Hall.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donor before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 24 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donors before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 25 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donor before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 23 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donors before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 24 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donor before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 22 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

For completeness, it would be helpful to know the date or dates of the contributions made for the benefit of your Shadow Office by Mr John Lewis and Mr Peter Hall.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donors before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 23 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donors before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 24 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donor before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 23 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donors before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 23 January informing me of the donations you have received through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of your office in respect of your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

I was grateful to receive this. As you know, I am considering this issue in the context of a complaint I have received about Mr George Osborne's registration of such donations. My conclusions on that complaint will, I hope, help to resolve the position in respect of registering such donations in the Register of Members' Interests.

Finally, it might be helpful for my current inquiries if you could confirm whether you knew the identity of your donors before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year.

Should you wish to have a word about any of this at this stage, please do not hesitate to contact me or to give me a telephone call.

Thank you for your letter of 5 February, and please forgive the delay in this response.

Peter Hall has made two donations: the first was made in March 2006 and the second in May 2007.

I was aware of the donor's identity before 13 January this year. As mentioned in my previous letter, Mr Hall made his intention to donate to the Conservative Party known to my predecessor as Shadow Secretary of State for Defra.

I hope that this information is helpful.

Thank you for your letter of 5 February 2008.

I thought I had explained this in my previous letter. For the avoidance of doubt, I can confirm that I knew the identities of the donors before the complaint was made against Mr Osborne and, in the case of the MIC, the donation was declared before the complaint.

I thought it would be helpful to set down the main points you made when we spoke on the telephone on 6 February in response to my letter to you of 5 February.

I asked whether you knew the identity of your donor. You said that the position was:

I am most grateful for your help.

Further to our meeting on 7 February, I thought it would be helpful to set down the main points you made in relation to our recent correspondence.

I asked whether you knew the identities of your donors before the complaint against George Osborne became public knowledge on 13 January this year. You said that the position was:

Please let me know if this captures your main points or if you would like to add to or amend it. I am most grateful for your help.

Thank you for your letter of 5 February concerning the registration of donations received through Conservative Campaign Headquarters.

I can confirm that I knew the identity of the donor whose donation has helped to provide one member of staff who supports me in carrying out my Frontbench responsibilities.

Thank you very much for your letter dated 5^th February regarding my correspondence informing you of the donations I receive through Conservative campaign headquarters towards the running of my office in respect of my Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.

You ask for the date of the contributions made for the benefit of my Shadow Office. John Lewis donated £25,000 on 19 May 2006 and 24 May 2007, and Peter Hall donated £50,000 on 24 February 2006.

I can confirm that I did know the identity of the donors prior to 13^th January 2008.

I hope that this is helpful to you, but please do not hesitate to let me know if you require any further information.

Thank you for your letter of 5 February. Prior to the discussion with Conservative Campaign Headquarters on 21 January, I was aware that Mr Julian Schild was probably a donor to CCHQ. I was not personally aware of the names of the other donors. As I met them at a previous lunch it could be argued that I might have inferred they were donors although I have met many other people at CCHQ's request, who are not recorded as donor's wishes.

Thank you for your letter of 5^th February 2008 in response to mine of 24^th January regarding registration of donations.

In answer to your question, I can confirm that I did know the identity of my donor before the complaint against Mr Osborne became public knowledge on 13^th January this year.

I didn't generally know the donors because they had donated before my time in this role when Michael Gove held my position and direct to CCHQ, who had vetted and declared their donations to the Party as appropriate. However, over a period of time, some of the individuals belatedly introduced themselves at dinners or industry functions.

To clarify, when I wrote my original note to you, I specifically asked CCHQ to supply me with a list of names and companies of those behind CCHQ's funding of my Housing Researcher and this was the first time I had ever viewed a complete listing.

The money was already donated to CCHQ by the time I was in the Shadow Housing Minister role and they simply let me know that there was a budget available to employ a Housing Researcher through the Parliamentary 'Other Payroll' system.

Thank you for your letter of 5 February. In response to your question, yes I knew the identity of all donors who had expressed a wish that their donation to the Conservative Party be devoted to assisting my work on the Opposition front bench from the point at which they gave their donations, i.e. before the debate emerged on this issue in relation to George Osborne's office.

Please let me know if I can assist in any other way.

I write in response to your letter of 22 January about the complaint that Mr George Osborne has failed to enter in the Register of Members' Interests donations made by identifiable donors to Conservative Central Office which were used to support his office as Shadow Chancellor.

The answers to your questions are set out below.

The first discussion I had with Mr Osborne himself about the registration of donations made to his office through the Conservative Party took place on the afternoon of Friday 12 January this year (2008). He was accompanied by a Special adviser to the Opposition Chief Whip, and he said that his visit was prompted by press interest in donations to his office.

I had had a meeting with Mr McLoughlin, Opposition Chief Whip, on the afternoon of Wednesday 5^th December 2007, arranged through the special adviser. It is not in my diary, I believe because it was arranged at almost immediate notice. In the morning of that day, the special adviser e-mailed me a further copy of the existing guidance provided by the party to the Shadow Cabinet about outside interests. I had been shown this guidance in March 2004 and had been asked whether it complied with the rules of the House, which it did. The rules of the House make no distinction between shadow ministers and other Members who are not Ministers, but parties may impose restrictions of their own. There seemed no need on 5 December to make any further comment on the advice given, no relevant changes in any rules of the House having intervened.