UK: British Labour Party membership remains below that of the Conservatives, general secretary Mr Donald Triesman admitted yesterday.
Mr Triesman's confession is a further blow to Prime Minister Mr Blair's stated ambition of a mass-membership party with 1 million-plus members. Labour swelled its ranks to 405,000 members in the wake of its landslide 1997 general election victory.
However, in January Mr Triesman revealed that numbers had plummeted to 280,000, down 10 per cent on the previous year. He refused to give an up-to-date figure yesterday but said he did not think it had risen above 300,000. The Tories claim an estimated membership of 330,000.
Mr Triesman also referred to the state of the party's finances. Labour was more than £5 million in the red and was taking on a £5.5 million mortgage for the new headquarters it moves into next weekend, he told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour.
Donations fell dramatically over recent months, with the party raising just £591,052 between April and June, down from £3,379,641 in the first quarter of the year. However, Mr Triesman insisted the fall had nothing to do with large gifts from controversial figures. "I don't think there is any evidence that ordinary members cease to give money on the basis that they don't like individual donors," he said.