Think tank used as conduit for Hain's campaign cash

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Peter Hain blamed mere "administrative failings" for a staggering £103,000 of undeclared donations.

But that term barely begins to describe the tangled and indeed mysterious way that money ended up in the bank account of his campaign, called Hain4Labour.

At the heart of the affair is the existence of a think-tank that acted as a conduit for money from controversial tycoons and seems to have been set up by senior figures close to Mr Hain's campaign team.

Here is a guide to the Mysterious Affair of Mr Hain's Money.

Progressive Policies Forum

A hitherto unknown organisation that claims to be a think-tank that promotes progressive thinking.

Yet it has no website and there is no obvious sign that it has done anything beyond channelling a fortune to Peter Hain's campaign.

Mysteriously, some £26,613.75 in donations and a £25,000 interest-free loan were given by wealthy people through the PPF.

It was set up in December 2006 - mid-way through the campaign - and the founder and spokesman was John Underwood, who was treasurer to Hain4Labour.

John Underwood

A former TV reporter, he was briefly Director of Communications for the Labour Party and went into full-time PR, specialising in health, where he styled himself Professor Underwood.

As treasurer he ran the Hain campaign finances at the same time as setting up PPF (above) which funnelled money into the campaign.

Willie Nagel

A world-leading diamond broker who was embroiled in a furore over links to John Major in the Nineties.

He gave Hain4Labour an interest-free loan of £25,000 and a gift of £5,000. He gave the money to the campaign via PPF rather than directly.

Isaac Kaye

The former head of a drugs company that was raided by police investigating an alleged £400 million rip-off of the NHS. He also gave £14,623 in two separate donations via PPF.

Steve Morgan

A commercial lobbyist, he joined the Hain campaign for deputy leader as office manager.

He claims he had to "bring order to the chaos" left by others.

Mr Morgan gave £5,000 to Hain4Labour but chose to donate via PPF, despite working in the campaign's own offices.

Phil Taylor

Mr Hain's likeable former special adviser in Whitehall, he left when Morgan arrived. He insists that every donation before that date had been fully and properly declared.