[1][2][3] Tyneside lawyer David Abrahams had donated at least £548,850 to the Labour Party since 2003 via two colleagues, his solicitor and the wife of an employee, which broke electoral law forbidding the use of proxy donors.
In the time since Prime Minister Gordon Brown had come to power, Abrahams was now Labour's third largest donor behind Lord Sainsbury of Turville (£2 million) and Iranian businessman Mahmoud Khayami (£320,000 in September 2007).
[citation needed] Mrs Kidd has "donated" £185,000 since 2003,[4] and is also listed as a £5,000 donor to Harriet Harman's successful Labour deputy leadership bid in 2007.
[7][8] After the news broke of Mrs Kidd's "donation" to her campaign, Harriet Harman made a statement saying she accepted a donation to her campaign for the Labour Party deputy leadership (which she eventually won) on 4 July "in good faith," had registered the monies with the Electoral Commission and the Register of Members Interests, and she "was not aware of any funding arrangements ... between David Abrahams and Janet Kidd".
In his monthly press conference on 27 November, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said donations to the Labour Party by Abrahams through intermediaries were "completely unacceptable" and would be repaid.
[10] The Electoral Commission is seeking to investigate under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 why they were given wrong names and what checks Labour made into its "donors", and called in the Crown Prosecution Service for briefings and advice.
[citation needed] On 28 June 2008, Wendy Alexander announced her resignation as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, due to pressure on her following the donation scandal.