SCOTTISH Labour is under fire after taking a donation from a lobbying industry boss - despite the party demanding greater transparency around lobbyists in Holyrood.

Scottish Labour’s biggest donation from an individual this year came from Mark Glover, chief executive of planning lobbyists Bellenden.

Glover, the new chair of the Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC), the UK trade body for the lobbying industry, gave £3600 during the Holyrood election campaign.

It was Scottish Labour’s second largest recorded donation in the first quarter of 2016, with only £4293 from the GMB union ahead of it, according to the Electoral Commission.

Because the money came from Glover as an individual, rather than his company, there is nothing in the Commission’s public record referring to Bellenden or lobbying.

It was only an investigation by the Sunday Herald which brought the connection to light.

Labour accepted the cash despite Labour MSP Neil Findlay leading the fight for greater transparency around lobbying at Holyrood.

In 2012, he proposed a public register of lobbying activity, an idea adopted by the SNP which led to the Lobbying (Scotland) Act.

Glover, 49, a former Labour councillor in Southwark, founded Bellenden in 2006.

The company, with offices in London, Edinburgh and Manchester, specialises in helping clients secure planning and licensing consents.

Bellenden Scotland’s website says the company can “help you represent your interest with MSPs, the Scottish Government, wider stakeholders and the media”.

In particular, it says it can help deliver a wide variety of “planning and licensing consents…including commercial, energy, waste, retail, residential and mixed-use.”

Bellenden Scotland staff are regulars at several of Holyrood’s cross-party groups (CPGs), which bring together MSPs and stakeholders.

They have attended CPGs on Architecture & The Built Environment, Scotland’s Universities & Colleges, and Towns & Town Centres.

Bellenden Scotland head Emma Megaughin has been a member of the CPG on Renewable Energy, and the firm a member of the CPGs on Children & Young People and Rural Policy.

After two years as its deputy chair, Glover became chair of the Association of Professional Political Consultants last week.

Setting out his priorities, he said: “We’re expecting the introduction of a statutory register in Holyrood later this year and there have been calls for a Welsh lobbying register.

“So we’ll be working with colleagues around the UK to ensure that the voice of our members is heard in all the devolved administrations.”

Dr Will Dinan of Spinwatch, which campaigns for lobbying transparency, said: “While there is nothing illegal associated with this donation, it does illustrate the professional and personal proximity of lobbyists and politicians in Scotland.

“Labour were at the forefront of the debate on lobbying transparency in Holyrood. If political parties want to reassure the public of the probity of their funding, they should proactively disclose financial and in-kind donations from lobbyists.”

An SNP source added: “This demonstrates exactly why we have fully supported measures to improve openness and accountability in Scottish politics.

“With cross-party support at Holyrood for more transparency around lobbying I'm sure the Labour party will renew their efforts to practise what they preach.”

Asked why he had made the donation, Glover said: “I made a personal donation to the Labour Party of which I have been a member for 22 years.” Findlay declined to comment.

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “Mr Glover is a Labour Party member and has been for a number of years. He has been a longstanding supporter of our movement."