A Labour parliamentary candidate says she felt no shame in accepting a £1,000 donation from Tony Blair , despite campaigning heavily against the Iraq War . Rupa Huq , who is standing for Ed Miliband ’ s party in a key marginal seat in west London , said fellow candidates who had turned down the cash were ‘ sticking their noses up ’ at Mr Blair . Ms Huq - the sister of former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq - even accused MailOnline of ‘ picking on her ’ when she was quizzed about the donation at a hustings debate last night . Labour parliamentary candidate Rupa Huq ( left ) says she felt no shame in accepting a £1,000 donation from Tony Blair , despite campaigning heavily against the Iraq War . Mr Blair made £1,000 donations to 106 local campaigns in target seats across the country in March , only for some Labour candidates to reject the money , with one saying she could not accept the money because of her moral objections to the Iraq War . University lecturer Ms Huq , who is running to be MP for Ealing Central and Acton , actively campaigned against the war , boasting about the fact on a page of pledges on her website - but has not returned the money to Mr Blair . When asked whether she felt any shame for accepting the money from the Prime Minister that led Britain into war , she said she was ‘ not in a position ’ to be able to return the cash . She said : ‘ He gave the donation to all the key seats . What we want to do is defeat the Conservative government , the Conservative government that has closed A & Es . ‘ He wrote a cheque for £1,000 to the Labour Party , to 106 key seats in the whole country , and I think three people stuck their noses up . ‘ But elections cost money , if he gives money to good causes then why not ? ‘ Tony Blair won three elections , maybe you ’ re too young to remember . You know what , elections cost money . And he ’ s the most successful Labour Prime Minister that we have ever had in our country. ’ Rupa Huq ( pictured , right , campaigning with Eddie Izzard , left ) said fellow candidates who had turned down the cash were ‘ sticking their noses up ’ at Mr Blair . Former minister Sally Keeble ( left ) and the Labour candidate in Dundee Lesley Brennan ( right ) have rejected Mr Blair 's donation . As members of the public at the hustings at West Acton Primary School started to heckle Ms Huq , she could be heard saying : ‘ That was a question designed to pick on me. ’ In March , three Labour parliamentary candidates turned down their £1,000 donations from Mr Blair . Sophy Gardner , who is standing for the party in Gloucester and served in the Iraq campaign as a Wing Commander , declined the money . She said : ’ I have taken a personal decision that given my criticism of the Iraq war , in which I served , it would be hypocritical of me to accept it . ‘ Therefore , I can confirm I would decline this money. ’ She joined Lesley Brennan , standing in Dundee East , and Sally Keeble , in Northampton North , who both turned the money down . Speaking at the debate last night , Ms Huq ’ s Lib Dem opponent Jon Ball said her decision was ‘ completely hypocritical ’ . Labour candidate Sophy Gardner , who served in Iraq with the RAF , declined the donation as she thought accepting it would be 'hypocritical ' Ms Huq is the sister of former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq ( pictured ) , who is married to columnist Charlie Brooker . He said : ‘ Rupa has said that Ed Miliband and Tony Blair are completely different . But at the same time she ’ s accepting money from Tony Blair . ‘ It ’ s completely hypocritical . Some Labour candidates have refused the money . She isn ’ t one of the the three [ who have rejected the donation ] . ’ The incumbent candidate in Ealing Central and Acton is Conservative Angie Bray , who was not at the debate , however polls suggest the seat could swing in the favour of Labour . Ms Huq is the sister of former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq , who is married to television presenter and columnist Charlie Brooker . In March , former Downing Street spin doctor Alastair Campbell publicly attacked Labour candidates turning down donations from Mr Blair , calling them 'attention-seeking ' . Writing on Twitter he said : 'To attention seeking candidates rejected TB money 1 . He won more Labour seats than anyone 2 . Tories are loaded 3 . Do you want to win ? '
Labour candidate Rupa Huq accepted £1,000 from Blair March . She campaigned heavily against Iraq War but said : 'Elections cost money ' Three colleagues turned down cash from former Prime Minister in earlier this year . Ms Huq - sister of former Blue Peter presenter Konnie - said candidates who turned down Blair 's donation were 'sticking their noses up '