Shock figures show Scottish Labour OUTSPENT by both SNP and Tories in Holyrood election

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SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon, Tories Ruth Davidson and Labour’s Kezia Dugdale

It spent £337,000 on campaigning – barely a third of the cash which the Conservatives laid out and almost five times less than the SNP.

The Electoral Commission figures showed a total of £3,335,901 was spent in the race to Bute House.

Nearly half was down to Nicola Sturgeon's party with a massive £1,465,542 war chest to secure a third term in power.

Ruth Davidson's Conservatives splashed out £978,921 more than a threefold increase on the £273,000 in the previous Scottish Parliamentary battle.

While the SNP and Tories are funded by millionaires and lottery winners, Labour is mainly funded by the membership and donations of working people

Scottish Labour spokesperson

Labour's spending plummeted from the £816,889 figure six years ago and Kezia Dudgale's party crashed to third place behind the Tories.

Labour's 24 Holyrood seats cost £14,075 each and each vote cost only 65p.

That compares to the Conservatives, who won a record 31 seats at a cost of £31,578 each and £1.95 per vote.

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Nicola Sturgeon's SNP spent a massive £1,465,542 on the election

The SNP lost its majority but took 63 seats at a cost of £23,262 each and £1.38 per vote.

A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: "While the SNP and Tories are funded by millionaires and lottery winners, Labour is mainly funded by the membership and donations of working people."

The figures also showed spending on party political broadcasts rose to £180,707 from £147,089 at the previous election, while advertising outlay more than doubled to £973,605.

Parties spent just £7,560 on press conferences and the media compared to £54,590 in 2011, while market research and canvassing spend dropped from £258,357 to £204,368

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Scottish Labour spent £337,000 on campaigning the Holyrood election

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Figures on the Lib Dems and the Greens were published earlier, alongside other groups who recorded election spending of less than £250,000.

The Lib Dems spent £186,448 on their Holyrood campaign and their five seats cost £37, 289 each while the Greens spent £176,086 to win six seats for £29,347 each.

UKIP spent £89,000 and won no seats.

A SNP spokeswoman said: "We are grateful to all those who helped us secure over a million votes, the highest share of the constituency vote ever, and an historic third term."

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