The SNP’s landslide victory at the general election was helped along by nearly £1.5 million of spending on items ranging from a £35,000 helicopter to a £7,000 “I’m With Nicola” umbrella.
Labour’s crushing defeat, in which it lost all but one of its Scottish seats, came at an even higher price, with more than £1.6 million spent in Scotland.
The Conservatives spent nearly £1.3 million and the Liberal Democrats just over £300,000.
The SNP paid £35,450 to Inverness-based PDG Helicopters for four days’ hire in the days leading-up to the May 5 election.
The Conservatives also paid for helicopter transport, with £1,373.37 out of a total £14,688 bill to Shoreham-based Eastern Atlantic Helicopters spent in Scotland.
The SNP’s helicopter accounted for the vast majority of its total £40,222 transport bill and cost about the same as Labour’s entire transport spend in Scotland (£31,091).
But the Tories spent the most on transport in Scotland overall (£87,451) – more than twice as much as the SNP – including more than £10,000 to Air Partner Plc for hire of various planes and helicopters for flights to Scotland.
Labour spent the most on rallies and other events at £95,373, with the biggest tickets a £6,000 Glasgow date as part of a £50,000 UK tour and £4,000 for its manifesto launch in Glasgow’s Tollcross.
The Conservatives spent £78,024 on events, with several thousand pounds going to MGI (London) Ltd and also London-based Blueway for manifesto launches.
The SNP spent £24,725 on events, with the biggest events-related item being a 95cm black and yellow “promotional supermini umbrella” with the words “I’m With Nicola” printed on it, which cost £7,128 from Glasgow-based The Business Incentives Group (BIG) Limited.
The SNP also paid BIG £121,282 for advertising on items such as foam hands, badges, pens, bags, bunting and flags.
The SNP’s biggest spend in Scotland went on advertising, with £276,049.85 handed to Glasgow-based The Media Shop Ltd.
Labour’s biggest spend in Scotland went on unsolicited material to electors, with £100,848.43 handed to Essex-based Anton Group Limited.
The Tories also paid their biggest bill for unsolicited material, with £40,040 going to Edinburgh-based Treehouse Print.
Almost all of the SNP’s suppliers were based in Scotland, with exceptions including Dublin-based Facebook Ireland Ltd and Twitter International Limited for advertising, London-based polling firm Survation and English-headquartered travel companies.
The SNP spent the most on campaign broadcasts in Scotland, with £89,907 to Edinburgh-based Greenroom Films.
This was followed by the Conservatives, who paid £45,586 to various London-based media firms, with Royal Oak Yard its most frequent supplier.
Labour was outspent by the Liberal Democrats in Scotland in campaign broadcasts.
Labour gave £13,700 to various London producers, chiefly Silverfish Productions while the Lib Dems spent £16,194 on London producers, mainly Dog & Duck Yard.