Parties

Political parties that wish to register with us should send the following:

• a registration form
• £150 registration fee
• a party constitution
• a financial scheme

You can download a political party registration form and guide to filling it out below.

Political parties who are registered with us must comply with statutory controls, including the submission of returns on their finances. You may wish to read carefully the appropriate guidance documents in the donation and loan reporting section below.

Please see our summary of the legislation regarding political parties (PDF) for more information on registration and statutory return requirements.

Forms and guidance

Different forms and guidance apply with respect to donations to political parties registered in Great Britain compared to those registered in Northern Ireland.

Please ensure that you download the appropriate forms and guidance for your location. If you cannot find a form or guidance document below, please visit our forms or guidance listings pages, where you can search for our forms and guidance on donations, loans, statements of accounts and other statutory requirements.

European Parliamentary elections and a forthcoming UK Parliamentary general election

The regulated period for the 2009 European Parliamentary elections ran from 5 February 2009 to 4 June 2009. During this period, parties were subject to campaign expenditure limits. For more information, please see our campaign expenditure guidance (PDF), or our Welsh version (PDF).

The regulated period of the European Parliamentary elections 2009 will overlap with, or extend, the regulated period of the next UK Parliamentary general election. Political Parties that campaigned in the European Parliamentary elections, and which are also intending to campaign at the next UK Parliamentary general election will need to take account of the changes to the regulated period and report on combined campaign expenditure limits at the general election. Please see our briefing note for registered political parties (PDF), which explains combined campaign expenditure limits and political parties’ reporting responsibilities. 

Statement of accounts

All registered political parties must submit an annual statement of accounts to us. Party accounting units whose annual income or gross expenditure is greater than £25,000 must also submit their accounts. Accounting units below £25,000 are not required to submit, however, they must maintain records sufficient to show and explain their financial transactions.

Please see the following table for guidance on statements of accounts for parties:

We also provide a statement of accounts template for parties with income or expenditure under £25,000 (XLS), as well as answers to frequently asked questions about statement of accounts.

Please see the following table for forms and guidance on statements of accounts for accounting units:

Registration of political parties

We have produced a brief guide if you are thinking of registering a political party (PDF) and a Welsh version (PDF). This explains the benefits and responsibilities of registering as well as outlining where you can get more information.

For detailed information on registration please download our guidance on registering as a political party (PDF) . 

Please see the following chart for forms and guidance required for the registration of political parties and their details:

Registration of minor political parties

Minor parties are restricted to community elections in Wales and parish elections in England. The forms and guidance required for the registration of minor political parties are:

• application to register a minor political party form RP1m (XLS) and guidance notes for RP1M (PDF)
• confirmation of registered details of a minor political party form RP8M (XLS) and guidance notes for RP8M (PDF)

Donation and loan reporting by political parties

For detailed information on donations and loans please download either Donations and loans: guidance for political parties in Great Britain (PDF) or Donations and loans: guidance for political parties in Northern Ireland (PDF) as appropriate. Please see the following chart for forms and guidance required for donation and loan reporting by political parties:

Campaign expenditure reporting by political parties

For detailed information on campaign expenditure please download our guidance for political parties (PDF), the Welsh version (PDF), or our Campaign expenditure factsheet (PDF). The forms and guidance required for campaign expenditure reporting by political parties are:

Combined limits apply when the regulated periods of two relevant elections overlap. For more information see combined regulated periods and campaign expenditure limits at UK Parliamentary elections. In this situation, the following forms and guidance are required: