The Liberal Democrats received a £153,267 donation from the owners of The Ministry of Sound, figures published on Wednesday revealed.

In total the party received £1m in the final quarter of last year, making the legendary London nightclub the Lib Dem's biggest single donor in that period.

The club's owner, James Palumbo, also let the party use it as a venue for their Christmas party.

Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg acknowledged in his speech that he was in somewhat unusual surroundings.

“It is very unfamiliar for me. I don’t go out clubbing very much," he said. "It feels somewhat uncomfortable – somewhat like David Cameron at a Franco-German summit.”

The Ministry of Sound is currently fighting for survival after discovering it could be affected by a proposed housing development being looked at by Boris Johnson.

The figures published by the Electoral Commission today showed that the Conservative Party received £3.2m between October and December, while Labour received £2.3m.

In total, political parties received £34.6m from donors and £9.1m in state funding during the course of 2011 - and owe £14.7m in loans.

Electoral Commission analysis showed that £1.75m of the Labour income came from trade unions in the last quarter - with £649,092 from the GMB the biggest single donation.

The Tory coffers were significantly swelled by the £600,000 proceeds of the National Conservative Draws Society.

Among cash flowing into Labour's coffers was £121,440 from property entrepreneur Andrew Rosenfeld - appointed as a senior Labour adviser by leader Ed Miliband last year - who has promised the party £1m.