Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has just revealed he received a £200,000 donation from former Formula One boss Max Mosley.

Mosley, 76, made the donation through the Labour Party according to the latest House of Commons Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

According to the return, which was made on June 28, the cash was 'to support my office as deputy leader and shadow cabinet office minister'.

Tom Watson, pictured, received £200,000 from billionaire ex-Formula One boss Max Mosley

Anti-press campaigner Max Mosley, pictured, also gave £40,000 to Watson in a donation last year

The money received by Watson was in the House of Commons Register of Members’ Financial Interests

Mosley, who is the son of the wartime fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, is also a major supporter of the anti-Press group Hacked Off.

The billionaire made the donation just as Labour's front bench resigned as part of the attempt to oust party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Last year, Mosley handed over a further £40,000 to the Labour Party deputy leader.

Watson and the Labour Party have been approached for comment.

On February 1, 2016, he received £60,000 for running his office from the GMB union, who also handed over £15,000 in November 2015.

Meanwhile, doubts about the independence of the would-be Press regulator were raised because of the major donation by Mosley.

Labour’s deputy leader is a founding member of the anti-Press pressure group Hacked Off’s advisory committee.

Mr Mosley, the son of the wartime fascist leader Oswald Mosley, is almost single-handedly bankrolling Impress, the would-be regulator.

It was set up to offer ‘independent’ regulation of the Press under the Government’s state-backed scheme. But critics question whether Impress can be independent, given its reliance on Mr Mosley’s millions.

Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, said: ‘Tom Watson has been one of the fiercest critics of newspapers, so the idea that his benefactor Max Mosley’s Impress can be considered independent is very questionable.’

No national or regional newspaper has yet signed up to Impress, which has admitted it will rely on £3.8million in donations over four years from the family of Mr Mosley.

The majority – including the Daily Mail – are overseen by the Independent Press Standards Organisation, which can impose £1million fines for serious and systemic wrongdoing.

Mr Satchwell said: ‘Critics of the Press, including Max Mosley, are quick to suggest Ipso is not independent, but this is further evidence that Impress is the one that clearly lacks independence.’

Mr Watson declared the donation in the latest edition of the House of Commons Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

He said the money was paid via the Labour Party ‘to support my office as deputy leader and shadow Cabinet Office minister’. Four years ago the MP for West Bromwich East co-authored the book Dial M for Murdoch, about the phone-hacking scandal.

Mr Mosley has been a key figure in a celebrity campaign for tougher rules for the Press after he sued the News of the World for printing photos of him taking part in a sadomasochistic orgy with prostitutes dressed in military uniform.

Impress is still waiting to hear if it will be recognised by the Press Regulation Panel set up under the controversial Royal Charter. The charter was agreed between the three main political parties and Hacked Off after the Leveson Inquiry recommended ‘voluntary, independent self-regulation’.

Ipso has said that it will not seek official recognition under the Charter.

Walter Merricks, chairman of Impress, said: ‘We are not and never will be beholden to anyone and we can never be in a position where our funding could be removed if we offended a funder.’