Joan Edwards' donation was the largest to both the Tories and Lib Dems over three months
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are facing questions after the parties received a large donation from an elderly woman in her will.
The coalition parties shared £520,000 bequeathed by Joan Edwards because it was understood her will said it should go to "whoever was in government".
The Daily Mail says it has seen Ms Edwards' will and reports that it made no reference to any political party.
There has been no complaint from the will's executors.
Ms Edwards name emerged when the Electoral Commission published the latest figures on donations to political parties on Tuesday.
Her contribution was included among the money more typically given by trade unions and wealthy business people.
The Conservatives received £420,576 and the Lib Dems got £99,423 from the bequest during the second quarter of the year.
Biggest donor
But the Mail claimed the will said the money should go to "whichever government is in office... to use as they think fit".
The paper suggested that the donation was intended for government spending rather than for political parties.
Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said it looked "as dodgy as hell" and the parties had to offer a clear and credible explanation.
A Lib Dem source said "every decision about the case was made by the executors of the will".
The party said the money had been shared according to the number of MPs and ministers of each coalition party.
The Conservative Party said it did not comment on the details of specific donations.
Ms Edwards was the biggest donor to both parties between April and June.
There are no further details about her at this stage although she is not thought to have had any involvement in politics.
Union support
Overall, the Conservatives returned to the top of the political funding table - receiving £4.12m in donations in the three months to June.
Labour, given the most money in the previous quarter, received the second largest amount, £3.14m.
Unite, Britain's biggest trade union, gave £772,000 to Labour, the single largest amount from any person or organisation to any party.
The third-placed Liberal Democrats received £801,000 in total.
Fourth in the donations table was the UK Independence Party on £153,229, double the amount of the previous quarter.
The British National Party received £98,000 and Plaid Cymru £82,000.
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui
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