Labour blames polls disaster on cash flow

NEW documents laying out how the parties spent their cash in May’s Holyrood election campaign have revealed the hidden flaws behind Labour’s disastrous loss and the SNP’s extraordinary victory.

The figures, detailing how the parties spent their funds in the run up to May’s historic poll show massive disparities in the way the two leading parties chose to focus their appeal to voters.

Labour’s disastrous campaign spent two thirds of all its money – more than £500,000 – mostly on unwanted flyers and letters posted through people’s doors.

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As campaigners admitted at the time, such leaflets have a longevity of around five seconds – the time it takes for households to pick them up from the doormat and put them in the bin. By contrast, while such material also made up the largest chunk of the SNP’s better-funded campaign, the figures published by the Electoral Commission show it focused far more cash on other key areas.

More than £200,000 was spent on market research or canvassing, as the SNP painstakingly researched voter behaviour, allowing them to identify and track their expected vote in the weeks before polling day.

The outlay also allowed the SNP to chase up supporters in the days leading up to polling and on polling day itself to remind them to back the SNP. Labour spent just £32,623 on market research and canvassing, more than £70,000 less than it spent in 2007.

Labour sources said last night that the massive disparity was caused by the campaign only getting proper funding around two weeks before the polls opened. This is blamed on the fact that the party was reliant for a large part of its funding from the UK Labour movement.

The party was therefore left with little option but to throw cash at leaflets in the hope they would hit home – many of which only served to irritate households.

A key part of Labour’s internal review, instigated over the summer, has been to recommend that Scottish Labour take full control of its finances away from the UK party, so that in future it can spend money at an earlier stage in the campaign. “The SNP was in a strong position because they had money up front. For us, it was the other way round, said a Labour source.”

The SNP spent a further £250,000 last year on polling and research as they planned their campaign out, and outspent Labour on advertising.

Elsewhere, £18,000 was spent hiring a helicopter for Alex Salmond to use during the campaign, while Edinburgh alternative rock band Jakil were paid £3,172 to perform the SNP’s campaign theme tune, Let’s Work Together. Meanwhile, the party’s manifesto launch at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance cost it well over £10,000, compared to Labour’s £2,000 on its manifesto launch.

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A Labour spokesman said last night: “A lot of Labour’s campaign was carried out by activists going out and delivering our message to people on their doorstep. There was also a lot of micro targeting of key messages to groups of the electorate.”

An SNP spokesman said: “It looks like a large part of Labour’s campaign spending was simply thrown in the bin. The SNP listened to the people of Scotland, their concerns and ambitions and spoke to them directly about our record in government, our team for Scotland and our vision for the future and we will continue to do so.”