THE North Ayrshire Conservative and Unionist Association are under fire after a £100,000 donation from a mysterious unionist club.

Ross Greer MSP has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament asking the party to explain a cash donation made in April 2016 by the now defunct Irvine Unionist Club.

By law, any unincorporated association donating over £25,000 to political parties must be formally registered as a donor, with the onus on the recipient to ensure it is ‘permissable’.

It has been revealed that the Irvine Unionist Club, which no longer exists and has almost no information available online, was never a registered political donor.

Additionally, the investigation found that North Ayrshire Conservatives’ Treasurer Bryan Gossman claimed that most of the donation went directly to the central party in Edinburgh.

Ross Greer, MSP for the West of Scotland, demanded clarity from North Ayrshire Tories saying: “We need the Tories and their local MSP Jamie Greene, to come clean about this donation and answer questions. “Where did the money come from? “What was it used for? Why was the donor not registered?

“In a democracy we have a right to transparency in political donations, this protects us from having a system in which rich interests can influence the system from behind a veil of secrecy. “The current system is not fit for purpose- it’s laughable that it should take an investigation by journalists to unveil something that raises so many questions. “The Government need to bring in a new system quickly.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “All donations to the Scottish Conservatives are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law.

“We have not been contacted by the Electoral Commission on this matter.”

An Electoral Commission spokesperson said: “Political parties and their accounting units are legally required to report donations that they receive over a certain threshold.

“In this case, the accounting unit has met its obligations. “As an Unincorporated Association, the donor should have applied to register with the Commission when making the donation.

“The Commission is establishing the facts before determining what further steps to take.”

In the Electoral Commission’s guidance on donations, it states that the onus is on the party to check whether a donation is ‘permissable’ It says: “When you receive a donation, you have 30 days to decide if you can accept it. “You must ask yourself: ‘Am I sure that I know who this donation is from?’ ‘Is the donor permissible?’ “If the donation isn’t from a permissible donor, or for any reason you can’t be sure of the true identity of the source, you must return it within the 30- day period. If you don’t, you and your party may be subject to enforcement action.”