28 May 2009
The financial accounts of UK political parties with income and expenditure of £250,000 or less for the year ending 31 December 2008 have been published today by the Electoral Commission. Those parties with income or expenditure of over £250,000 will be published on 30 July.
Party income and expenditure
The accounts show that 281 parties, many of which are fielding candidates at the elections on 4 June, have reported gross income and total expenditure of £250,000 or less. The combined gross income reported by these parties was £1,943,531, and the combined total expenditure by these parties was £1,709,185.
Of the 281 parties:
- 258 political parties have reported spending of between £0 and £25,000.
- 17 parties have reported spending between £25,000 and £100,000
- Six parties have reported spending between £100,000 and £250,000. These parties are:
- Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- Communist Party of Great Britain
- Democratic Unionist Party - DUP
- Left List
- New Party
- Progressive Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
Accounting unit income and expenditure
Political parties may register accounting units with the Electoral Commission. An accounting unit is a constituent or affiliated organisation of a political party and is responsible for its own financial affairs and transactions.
483 accounting units have reported gross income or total expenditure of between £25,000 and £250,000. The combined gross income of these accounting units was £28,983,884 and the combined total expenditure of these units was £27,736,281.
Late submissions
Ten parties and five accounting units have submitted their accounts to the Commission late. The Commission will impose civil penalties on these parties and accounting units.
48 parties have yet to submit their accounts to the Commission, although this includes parties with expenditure or income of over £250,000. In the case of these parties with larger income and expenditure, the deadline for submission to the Commission is 7July and the accounts will be published on 30 July 2009.
Full details are available at www.electoralcommission.org.uk.
Peter Wardle, Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission said:
“Public trust in democracy depends on transparency about where parties get their money from and how they spend it. Recent events have made that clearer than ever.
“Having a wide range of political parties ready and willing to take part in the political system is a very important part of our democracy. We know that the vast majority of those involved in the process are volunteers, especially amongst the parties whose accounts we have published today.
“That is why, earlier this year, we wrote to every registered party and every party accounting unit reminding them of what they needed to report to us and offering them advice and guidance on how to fulfil their statutory obligations.”
“We’re pleased that the trend of parties reporting on time to us continues to improve, especially amongst these smaller parties who are often less well resourced than the larger parties.“
The Commission is currently scrutinising all the submitted accounts and will be checking the information in these accounts with other information we hold and pursuing any discrepancies with the parties.
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For further information please contact:
Electoral Commission press office on 020 7271 0704
email: press@electoralcommission.org.uk
outside office hours 07789 920414
Notes to editors:
1. The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. Our aim is integrity and public confidence in the UK’s democratic process. We regulate party and election finance and set standards for well-run elections.
2. The Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 requires that parties with a gross income and expenditure of £250,000 or less (and their accounting units with a gross income or expenditure in excess of £25,000 and below £250,000), and whose financial year ends on 31 December, submit an annual statement of accounts to The Electoral Commission by 30 April and for more than that sum by 7 July.
3. Accounting units with income and expenditure that are both £25,000 or less are not required to submit their accounts.
4. The figures in this news release have been rounded up to the nearest whole pound. The exact figures for the expenditure are available on our website.
5. There are 317 political parties registered with the Electoral Commission at the end of 2008 whose financial year-end was 31 December.
6. The fact that a Statement of Accounts has been placed on the Commission’s website should not necessarily be taken to indicate that the Electoral Commission has verified or validated it in any way.
