A donation of almost €15,000 from Bernard Grech to the Nationalist Party was the only single political donation requiring disclosure in 2020, according to a report published by the Electoral Commission last week.  

The law on party financing only requires the parties to name the source of the funds when a donation exceeds €7,000. 

Through the years Labour and PN have both regularly failed to name major political donors, both claiming that their donations are given in small amounts that do not require details to be published 

Grech's donation represents his unspent leadership campaign funds from that year, having spent just over €36,000 of the €51,000 he raised in his bid to become leader of the Opposition.  

In October 2020, the Nationalist leader pledged to donate the leftover money to the party after publishing an audit of his leadership drive at the end of his campaign.  

Single donations above €25,000 are not allowed. 

Labour biggest earner

Labour took the lead in 2020, raising almost €1.4 million overall, while the PN recorded over €1 million.  

More people donated to the PN than Labour, the report shows, with almost 30,000 people contributing to PL and almost 37,000 to the Opposition party.  

The Labour Party relied predominantly on donations ranging between €500 and €7,000.  

It said it received over €783,000 from such donations and netted more than €569,000 from those up to €500.  

The Nationalists, meanwhile, relied more on those of €50 or less.   

In 2020, PN said it received almost €567,000 from such donations, while those up to €500 were the party’s lowest contributors, bringing in just over €163,000. 

Donations of between €500 and €700 brought PN almost €317,000 in revenue. 

Both parties declared having received no donations from corporate entities in 2020, with all their funds having come from individuals.  

The year before, the Labour Party declared receiving only around 70 per cent of the PN’s donations, with the Nationalists receiving almost €1.6 million and PL raising just over €1.1 million.  

Financial statements

The publication of political donations also brought with it each party's annual financial reports for the same year. 

The statements show that in 2020, Labour recorded a surplus of almost €298,000, a marked improvement in the party's finances which the year before registered a deficit of just over €774,000. 

The Opposition, meanwhile, declared a deficit of almost €527,000 in 2020, mainly caused by a reduction in the value of its Medialink asset - the parent company of NET News. 

That year, PN declared membership and subscription income of more than €173,000 while PL said it made almost €109,000.

This represented a reduction in membership revenue of more than 50 per cent for Labour, which in 2019 stood at more than €219,000.