The Co-op should not abandon its support for Labour candidates, politicians said yesterday.

The membership-based retail and banking chain commissioned research from polling company YouGov after financial and mismanagement problems rocked the group last year.

The research found that both the general public and service users thought it “inappropriate for big businesses to donate to political parties.”

Asked if it was “inappropriate” for the Co-operative to donate to political parties, only 14 per cent of the general public and 22 per cent of volunteer respondents disagreed.

The Co-operative Party acts as a sister party to Labour, sponsoring around 30 parliamentary candidates at each general election and campaigning for Labour to adopt co-operative policies and principles.

But a source close to the party suggested the survey had asked questions with the deliberate intention of getting a negative response to continued funding. “Of course if you ask people these questions that’s what they’re going to say,” they said.

The party’s own research, carried out by rival pollster Populus, found public support when specific reference was made to the Co-op’s relationship with the Co-operative Party.

Some 28 per cent thought financial support appropriate and just 11 per cent thought it inappropriate — with 46 per cent expressing indifference.

The Co-operative Group said there was a greater level of support for profits to be re-directed to community-led campaigns and cutting grocery prices.

Chief executive Richard Pennycook said the group was “focused on delivering on our commitment to champion a better way of doing business for our customers and their communities with real change on the ground.”

The group’s annual general meeting next year will vote on whether to continue supporting the party.

Party chairman and MP Gareth Thomas said: “The Co-operative Party welcomes the opportunity for Co-op members to have an informed debate, based on a fair question, about the role politics can and should play in creating a Britain in which co-operative values shape our economy and our society.”