SCOTTISH SECRETARY David Mundell’s election campaigns have been directly funded by a stash of Tory “dark money,” according to new electoral records.

The Scottish Unionist Association Trust (SUAT), which does not publish its accounts and is under investigation by the Electoral Commission, helped pay the salary of the Scotland Secretary’s campaign managers in the 2015 and 2017 Westminster elections, the Herald newspaper reported yesterday.

Questioned about the SUAT on TV last month, Mr Mundell would not answer as to whether or not the money was used for election campaigning and how much his campaigns have received over the years.

But now records have revealed that the SUAT gave the Scottish Borders Conservative & Unionist Association (SBCUA), which covers part of Mr Mundell’s constituency, at least £12,336 in 2014 and £6,168 in 2015.

The SBCUA accounts express gratitude to the SUAT for “providing 50 per cent of the funds” for a campaign manager overseeing a number of candidates’ campaigns, including Mr Mundell’s, in 2017.

A Scottish Conservatives spokesman told the Herald: “The money donated from the SUAT comes from the proceeds of the sale of Scottish Conservative properties in Scotland in the 1960s.

“Since then, the SUAT has used those funds to promote the interests of the party.”

SNP MSP George Adam said: “We’re talking about one of the most senior Tories in Scotland here. He should be open and honest over where this money came from.”

Mr Mundell was the Tories’ only MP for a Scottish constituency at Westminster until last year’s general election.