Stewart Wheeler, the Tory donor who urged Conservative MPs to dismiss Iain Duncan Smith, has donated another £504,000 to the party, the Electoral Commission said yesterday.

The spread-betting millionaire said: “Michael Howard has done very well and got across the main message about giving people more choice."

Meanwhile, Christopher Ondaatje, the businessman brother of Michael Ondaatje, the author, gave Labour £1 million in the last quarter of 2003.