ONE of Bolton’s MPs received more than £20,000 in donations towards their General Election campaign.

Yasmin Qureshi received a total of £22,800 from unions, businesses, and private donors, according to a Parliamentary register of financial interests.

The town’s other MPs, Sir David Crausby and Chris Green, each registered a single campaign donation of £4,000 and £2,500 respectively.

Ms Qureshi, who was elected for a third time as the Labour MP for Bolton South East in June, received £6,300 from Mushtaq Lasharie OBE, who is a councillor in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and chairman of the charity Third World Solidarity.

She was also given a £5,000 private donation by Omar Megresi, £5,000 from cash and carry operator Bestway Wholesale Ltd , and £2,500 from Manchester-based Intro Developments Ltd. Unions also made significant donations to her General Election campaign.

USDAW donated £2,000, GMB gave £1,000, and GMB’s North West and Irish Region branch gave £1,000.

Ms Qureshi said that it is important for MPs to be wholly transparent about their campaign finances.

She said: “Everyone who is in a position of power, especially those who are directly elected, should be fully transparent financially. It is very important to ensure that we have a country and a society that is not corrupted.”

The register of financial interests also shows that Ms Qureshi received approximately £1,500 from the Government of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir for an overseas trip in August.

Ms Qureshi also stated that she employs her husband as a constituency caseworker and administrative officer.

Sir David, who has served as Bolton North East MP since 1997, registered a donation towards his election campaign of £4,000 from Unite the Union.

He also stated that his wife is employed as his office manager and that they receive income from a property they jointly own in London.

Mr Green, who narrowly defeated Labour’s Julie Hilling in Bolton West for the second time, received one donation of £2,500 from the Windsor-based United and Cecil Club.

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