Tories deny cash crisis

Stuart Wheeler, who donated £5m earlier this year

The Conservative Party has described as "mischievous and false" reports that it is short of cash.

A report in The Times newspaper suggests the party has been warned by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers about the shortfall between what it gets in donations and what it spends.

Finances are in a significantly better position than they were in the last parliament

Tory spokeswoman

The financial situation might lead to redundancies at Conservative Central Office in Westminster, London, The Times suggests.

A Conservative Party spokesman denied there was a crisis and told BBC News Online: "Finances are in a significantly better position than they were in the last parliament."

The newspaper suggests that the accountants have been unable to sign off accounts for the period ending March 2001.

The party is losing £300,000 a month because not enough is raised to cover the average £1m, says the newspaper.

Donations slumped

Only the £3m-a-year Short money, funded by taxes to support opposition parties, is keeping Central Office afloat, it is claimed.

In the run-up to the June general election the Conservatives were boosted by two £5m donations from Stuart Wheeler, founder of spread betting firm IG Index, and from Sir Paul Getty.

In addition to other funds raised, the party was thought to have been as in healthy a financial position as after any recent election.

But, The Times says, donations have slumped in the wake of the defeat and the bitter leadership contest which followed.

The newspaper quotes a senior Tory figure as saying: "The crisis is unsolvable unless new and generous donors can be found soon."