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Hain reveals £103k not declared Hain reveals £103k not declared
(20 minutes later)
Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain failed to declare £103,000 in donations to his Labour deputy leadership bid, his spokesman has confirmed.Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain failed to declare £103,000 in donations to his Labour deputy leadership bid, his spokesman has confirmed.
Earlier he passed details of the donations to the Electoral Commission, which is due to report back next week. Mr Hain, who is also Welsh Secretary, came fifth out of six in the race to succeed John Prescott last summer.
Mr Hain said he regretted the omission and admitted that he should have given "higher personal priority" to administration of his campaign. He expressed "regret" for not declaring the donations in time and not giving "higher personal priority" to the administration of his campaign.
Mr Hain, who is also Welsh secretary, came fifth out of six in the contest. But he said everyone who had given him money was legally entitled to donate.
He has already apologised for failing to declare a £5,000 donation, blaming "administrative failings". Earlier he passed full details of the £103,156.75 in donations to the Electoral Commission, which is due to report back next week.
Row I reasonably believed that the arrangements in place for my deputy leader campaign would be sufficient to ensure compliance with reporting requirements Peter Hain
He later went on to admit that there were other donations he had failed to declare. In a statement, he said: "I understand that people will ask how I could have allowed this number of donations to go undeclared at the time.
After weeks of work going back through the paperwork, Mr Hain has identified a series of donations adding up to £103,156.75. "The fact is that during this period, I gave my campaign for office within the Labour Party second priority to my government responsibilities.
"I reasonably believed that the arrangements in place for my deputy leader campaign would be sufficient to ensure compliance with reporting requirements, but as it transpired, due to administrative failings this was not the case after early May."
Campaign row
He said he had only become aware there was a problem on 29 November 2007 and had "immediately" taken steps to inform the Electoral Commission.
He initially apologised for failing to declare a £5,000 donation, blaming "administrative failings", but later went on to admit that there were other donations he had failed to declare.
After weeks of work going back through the paperwork, Mr Hain submitted a full list of donations to the Electoral Commission on Thursday.
His admission has been followed by a row between the two men who ran his deputy leadership campaign over who was to blame.His admission has been followed by a row between the two men who ran his deputy leadership campaign over who was to blame.
On Wednesday, former Hain aide Phil Taylor, who ran the campaign in its earlier stages, said all donations had been declared when he was in charge.On Wednesday, former Hain aide Phil Taylor, who ran the campaign in its earlier stages, said all donations had been declared when he was in charge.
His successor, Steve Morgan, has said he was brought into the Neath MP's campaign "to bring order to the chaos" left by Mr Taylor.His successor, Steve Morgan, has said he was brought into the Neath MP's campaign "to bring order to the chaos" left by Mr Taylor.