Exclusive:SNP candidate Dave Doogan has crowdfunding page removed for breaking JustGiving's rules

SNP election candidate Dave Doogan had an online crowdfunding page taken down for breaking party political fundraising.

Mr Doogan, who is hoping to be re-elected in the new constituency of Angus and Perthshire Glens, had set up a JustGiving page to raise money for his campaign.

However, the page has since been removed from the site as JustGiving doesn’t allow fundraising for “political campaigns or candidates”.

Stephen Kerr, who is standing in the same seat for the Scottish Conservatives, said: “It is deeply embarrassing for Dave Doogan that his desperate bid to raise coffers fell foul of JustGiving’s ban on political fundraising. He should have known better than to use a charity site.

“If voters in Angus and Perthshire Glens also want to pull the plug on Dave Doogan and the SNP’s independence obsession, they have to vote for me because only the Scottish Conservatives can beat the nationalists here.”

JustGiving’s guidelines states it cannot permit pages “to collect donations to political campaigns or candidates, as we cannot ensure adherence to country-specific campaign finance laws”.

Mr Doogan has since set up another fundraising page on Crowdfunder, and says he will refund those who had donated to the JustGiving page.

He said: “This is genuinely desperate stuff from the Tories. While I’m out all day, every day speaking to voters in Angus and Perthshire Glens, they are holed up looking for muck to rake up on their only real opponent in this constituency.

“I’m proud to use crowdfunding to support part of my campaign, which will be funded by local donations from ordinary people here in Angus and Perthshire - unlike the Tories who rely on multi-million pound donations from billionaires with complex offshore tax arrangements.”

Mr Doogan had been the MP for Angus from 2019 until the 2024 general election was called.

The Electoral Commission and JustGiving have also been approached for comment.