The Electoral Commission has announced that it will not report Labour leader Wendy Alexander to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

The Commission today concluded its investigation into the acceptance by Alexander of a donation of £950 from Paul Green, an individual not registered to vote in the UK, and the recording of that donation as having been received from a UK registered company.

However, the Commission did not entirely exonerate her - saying that she made "significant steps" to complying with legislation, but not "all reasonable steps".

During the course of the investigation, the Commission interviewed Alexander and members of her campaign team and staff, and obtained and analysed documents.

It also consulted with the Procurator Fiscal about the scope of its investigation in order to ensure its decision was taken on the basis of all relevant evidence.

Alexander welcomed the news, saying: “My honesty and integrity have been confirmed by this judgment.

“I accept entirely the Electoral Commission's decision. As I have all along accepted, a mistake was made. Significant steps were taken to ensure compliance; it is however clear that our system of checks did fail, which I entirely accept. Lessons have and will be learned.

“I also welcome the Commission's decision that there is no basis for any finding of intentional wrongdoing on the part of me or my campaign team. As I have maintained from the outset, there was no intentional wrongdoing on my part and I have now been vindicated by the independent body charged with policing electoral law."

She added that she deeply regrets that her campaign accepted the donation in breach of the rules, and that personally it had been a "salutary and bruising experience".

"Some of the coverage has hurt me and caused distress to many entirely innocent friends, my family and donors."

Alexander stressed that she intended to continue to serve the people of Scotland as leader of Labour in the Scottish Parliament.

However SNP MSP Roseanna Cunningham said that it sounded like a ‘not proven’ decision from the Electoral Commission, "which is extraordinary given that Wendy Alexander’s campaign accepted an illegal donation, for which she even thanked Mr Green personally".

Cunningham insisted that an offence was clearly committed, and that questions remained as to who should take responsibility.

"Having been reported to the Procurator Fiscal earlier this week, Ms Alexander may have narrowly escaped being reported for a second offence, but the reality is that her leadership has been fundamentally weakened by this affair. As Labour’s shambolic conduct over the Budget shows, she has lost the support of her backbenches as well as the trust of the public.

"It is very possible to argue that this is good news for the SNP, given Ms Alexander’s failed leadership of Labour in Scotland. But it cannot be good news in terms of the satisfactory investigation and enforcement of electoral law."

Labour MSP George Foulkes in turn attacked Cunningham, writing to her in a letter: "Now that the Electoral Commission has cleared Wendy Alexander I am writing to ask you to apologise for the vendetta you carried out against her, your unwarranted accusations and personal abuse.

"If you fail to do so we can only assume that your action was purely vindictive and not part of robust party politics."

Conservative deputy leader Murdo Fraser said: "As recent events have shown, this was the least of Labour’s worries. Their handling of the budget was a complete and dismal failure. They were publicly humiliated, and many within Labour’s own ranks are now questioning whether they are fit for purpose."

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