Bristol South MP Faces Share of 17.8m Million Debt

Bristol South MP, Dawn Primarolo - who is also a public health minister and sits on the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Neo-Labour party is potentially personally liable for some of the party's £17.8m million in debt along with other members of the NEC. Indeed so worried are some by this liability that the GMB union's executive decided to indemnify its two members of the NEC. The irony of the party having finances in such a state given that Dawn's previous roles in the government include Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General is not lost on some.

Dawn was a cheerleader of the second war in Iraq, having voted strongly with the government, a war that has resulted in over a million dead and at a cost of billions to the UK economy.

The Neo-Labour party is deeply in debt following haemorrhaging membership and the loss of some union support. In 2004 membership figures showed that from a high of 400,000 it had dropped to below 190,000 - the lowest since the 1930s. Some unions such as the Fire Brigades Union have split from the party, taking the funds they once donated with them. Other unions still in the party are also unhappy to keep the party going for a range of reasons. Walter Wolfgang, who was elected (and has since stepped down) to the NEC following his rise to prominence after being forcibly ejected from a Labour conference after heckling Jack 'War Criminal' Straw, criticised the NEC for loosing control of the party finances. The party's finances also came under pressure and scrutiny following the 'cash for honours' scandal.

This drop into the red is in stark contrast to the former party leader Tony Bliar who since leaving office has been doing very well for himself. He recently, along with his wife, purchased a £4 million mansion to add to their growing property portfolio (which includes 2 flats in Bristol purchased of over £500,000). She recently remarked, "Am I the only person in the world who thinks my husband is a socialist?"