Labour running deficits

Claire Trevett reports:

The Labour Party has run at a deficit for at least two years, forcing it to dip into its cash reserves and highlighting one of the problems the party faced in last year’s election.

A copy of the party’s financial report obtained by the Herald shows it recorded a $71,373 deficit in 2014 and an even larger $104,915 deficit the year before, a shortfall president Professor Nigel Haworth put down to the costs of byelections and its leadership contests.

Running a deficit in election year may not be unusual, as you tend to gather income over a three year period and spend most of it in election year. But running a $105,000 deficit in 2013 indicates a serious financial problem in Labour.

Their net assets have dropped to under $200,000 in 2014. A couple more $100,000 deficits and they’re bankrupt.