Souter was a major financial supporter of the Scottish National Party (SNP). In March 2007, he donated £500,000, citing an imbalance of funding within Scottish politics. He stated that it was his intention to redress an imbalance in funding: "as long as I can remember, the case for the union has been hugely financed by cash from London, while the case for independence has lacked resources. I hope my donation will help redress this imbalance". Following the donation, SNP leader Alex Salmond was criticised for "pandering to homophobia" by accepting the donation. Salmond thanked Souter for his support, calling him "one of the outstanding entrepreneurs of his generation". One month later, in April 2007, the SNP's commitment (made at the party's 2006 conference) to re-regulate the bus network was dropped from the 2007 manifesto, although the SNP denied any direct link.