Why does it cost £200,000 to campaign to be Deputy Leader?

Peter Hain has had to own up to accepting at least £200,000 to fund his campaign to become Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Well, it might be £200,000. On the other hand, it could be more. No one seems to know for sure and the two people who should know - his ex-Campaign Manager and his successor - are too busy blaming each other to provide a sensible answer.
Of course, the truth of the matter is that Peter Hain himself should have made absolutely certain that evrything about his campaign was above board and conducted strictly in accordance with the letter of the law. As should Harriet Harman when it came to the conduct of her own Deputy Leadership bid. The fact that neither bothered to do so tells us a great deal about both of them - either they are terminally arrogant or just plain stupid - or both. Either way, they should be held to account for what they did. If they were small business owners who failed to declare income to the Taxman, claiming or feigning ignorance would not an acceptable defence. Neither should it be in their case.

Leaving aside the probable criminality of their actions, the question needs to be asked just why such eye-watering amounts were thrown at an election carried out within what amounts to a closed society. Between them, the half-dozen candidates spent £500,000. That's half a million pounds, for God's sake.

Where on earth did it all go?

According to the Electoral Commission, noo Labour had a membership of around 120,000 when the Deputy Leadership contest was held. That was 100,000 down from the previous year and about 300,000 fewer than the membership figures for 1997. In fact, the rapidly declining membership rolls were one of the factors that made illegal loans so essential to the party's survival.

Given such a huge defection rate, the 120,000 who remained must have been dyed in the wool Labour supporters. The kind of people who eat, sleep and drink politics. Most would probably have been able to quote chapter and verse on each candidate's background and what - if anything - they stood for. The BBC and the papers covered the campaign in some depth. All of the candidates had access to web sites, blog spots and e-mail. In terms of reaching and influencing the people that mattered -i.e those with a vote - they couldn't have had more weapons at their disposal.

So, what exactly did they spend the half mil on? What in Hain's campaign soaked up £200,000?
If Hain can spend so much on what amounted to a closed election and then not know exactly what he spent the money on, God forbid that we should ever let him have access to public funds in his role as a Government Miniter.