News releases

Twelve political parties registered in Great Britain have reported receiving just over £8.9 million in donations, according to new figures published by Electoral Commission.

The donations, details of which are published today, were accepted between October and December of 2008. During the same period, six parties received payments from public funds totalling just over £2.3 million.

As at 31 December 2008, the total loans entered into by parties stood at just over £19.9 million, credit facilities (such as overdrafts) at £10.7 million and connected transactions (such as guarantees) at £330,000

The Commission's registers of donations and borrowing for the fourth quarter of 2008 show that:

Donations

• 12 political parties reported donations totaling £8,941,237 (excluding public funds) accepted between 1 October and 31 December.
• The three political parties to receive the most in donations were:

           o Conservative and Unionist Party- £5,138,850
           o Labour party- £2,621,952
           o Liberal Democrat party- £960,898

• Six parties received £2,335,763 in public funds.
• Eight out of the 320 registered parties failed to provide their required donation return on time and will automatically incur a penalty.
• Six political parties reported 17 donations this quarter that should have been reported in previous quarters. The total amount of donations reported late was £60,188.

Borrowing

• Three parties entered into new loans totalling £10,881.
• The total amount of repaid loans reported was £73,555 (including loans converted to donations).
• The total amount available through credit facilities was reduced by £125,000.
• The total amount of loans taken out and not yet repaid stands at £19,942,083.
• The amount available through credit facilities is £10,558,500.
• The total amount of connected transactions on behalf of parties is £330,000.
• 10 out of 320 registered parties failed to provide their required borrowing return on time and will automatically incur a penalty.
• Two political parties accounting units reported individual loans this quarter that should have been reported in previous quarters. The total amount of borrowing reported late was £23,160.
• One party reported repayment in full of a loan of £75,000. This should have been reported in a previous quarter.

Jenny Watson, Chair of the Electoral Commission said:

"Political parties need to raise money to pay for staff and for campaigns to communicate with voters. But it's important that the public can see how parties are funded and that, whatever their size, they comply with the rules on reporting.

"We're pleased to see that there is a continuing trend of improving compliance with the rules on transparency. This is a sign that the parties recognise how important this is to the electorate."

A summary of the donations and loans declared in the fourth quarter of 2008 follows below. Full details of all donations and loans are available on our registers at:

www.electoralcommission.org.uk/party-finance/database-of-registers

For further information contact:

The Electoral Commission press office on 0207 271 0704

Out of office hours 07789 920414

Email: press@electoralcommission.org.uk

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 UKs democratic process. We regulate party and election finance and set standards for well-run elections.

2. The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) requires GB and NI registered parties to report cash and non-cash donations and loans on a quarterly basis to the Electoral Commission. Parties must report any donation or loans above £5,000 made to the central party, or donations or loans exceeding £1,000 made to a local accounting unit.

3. From 1 November 2007 parties on the Northern Ireland register of political parties were required to conform to donation controls and from July 2008 with controls on loans. As required by the legislation, permissible donations and borrowing reported to us will not be published. These are transitional arrangements that will apply until October 2010.

4. Parties may accept donations of over £200 only if they are deemed 'permissible' under the terms of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) 2000 at the time the donation was made.

5. The figures reported for donations and borrowing have been rounded to the nearest £. Exact figures are available on our website.

6. In previous press releases loans, credit facilities and connected transactions have been presented as a total for borrowing. To aid clarity, the figures are now presented separately.

7. Credit facilities are an agreement where a registered party is entitled to receive a loan of money from time to time from another person (or organisation). The credit facility will generally have an upper limit specified in the credit facility agreement. Examples of common credit facilities include overdrafts and credit cards. The amount displayed is the maximum that can be borrowed and not the amount that is drawn upon at any one time.

8. Connected transactions are an arrangement where a person (or organisation) gives any form of security on behalf of a political party in respect of a loan or a credit facility arranged with someone other than the party or the person giving security. Where a person (or organisation) has provided security or a guarantee, it is the maximum that they could be liable to pay.

Summary of Q4 2008 donations and loans

Donations

Donations to all political parties over the last four quarters

Quarter	Donations excluding public funds (£)	Public funds (£)	Donations total (£)
Quarter four 2008	8,926,237	2,335,763	11,277,001
Quarter three 2008	13,545,707	2,042,480	15,588,187
Quarter two 2008	10,823,404	2,282,344	13,105,748
Quarter one 2008	8,214,414	2,394,377	10,608,791
Total	41,509,762	9,054,964	50,564,727

Note: further analysis is available on our website.

Donations to political parties accepted in quarter four 2008 (October to December)

Party	Donations excluding public funds (£)	Public funds (£)	Donations total (£)
Christian Peoples Alliance	3,427	0	3,427
Conservative and Unionist Party	5,138,850	1,482,188	6,621,037
Co-operative Party	8,942	0	8,942
Green Party	43,380	0	43,380
Labour Party	2,621,952	69,750	2,691,702
Liberal Democrats	960,898	676,707	1,637,606
National Front	6,170	0	6,170
New Party	7,000	0	7,000
Plaid Cymru The Party of Wales	0	46,490	46,490
Scottish Green Party	8,574	1,560	10,134
Scottish National Party	70,000	59,069	129,069
UK Independence Party	72,044	0	72,044
Total	8,941,237	2,335,763	11,277,001

Note: This total does not include donations which parties identified as impermissible and returned to the donor. These can be viewed on the registers on our website.

Public funds

The Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, Scottish Green Party and the Scottish National Party received a total of £1,725,690 in Short money, which is paid directly by the UK Parliament to opposition parties in the House of Commons.

The Conservative Party, Labour Party, and Liberal Democrats received £119,914 in assistance paid directly to opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament.

The Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats also received a total of £204,659 in Cranborne money which is for opposition parties in the House of Lords.

The Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party received a total of £285,501 in Policy Development Grants which are allocated according to a formula approved by the UK Parliament and paid by the Electoral Commission.

Borrowing

New loans in quarter four 2008 (October to December)

Party	Total amount of new loans (£)
Conservative and Unionist Party	5,000
Liberal Democrats	3,982
United Kingdom Independence Party	1,899
Total new loans	10,881

Note: Further details including the date the loan was entered into, date repayable, interest rate (whether fixed, variable or nil), whether security was given and details of the lender are available on the Electoral Commission website.

No new credit facilities or connected transactions were reported in Quarter 4 2008

Loans repaid in full or converted to donation in quarter four 2008 (October to December)

Party	Loans converted to donations (£)	Loans repaid in full (£)	Total reduction of loans (£)
Conservative and Unionist Party	50,000	4,112	54,112
Liberal Democrats	0	2,982	2,982
Respect The Unity Coalition	0	16,461	16,461
Total loans repaid	50,000	23,555	73,555

Note: Changes to terms and conditions of borrowings (such as changes to interest rate and repayment or review date) must be reported to the Electoral Commission. These details are available to view on the Commission website.

Total loans by party as at 31 December 2008 (not including partial repayments)

Party	Loans (£)
Conservative and Unionist Party	6,897,552
English Democrats	101,447
Labour Party	11,553,280
Left List	10,000
Liberal Democrats	523,171
People's Party for a Better Government	7,800
Plaid Cymru The Party of Wales	9,413
Progressive Party	100,000
Respect The Unity Coalition	18,417
Scottish National Party	444,503
Scottish Socialist Party	63,000
Scottish Voice	200,000
Solidarity Scotland's Socialist Movement	13,500
Total loans at 31 December 2008	19,942,083

Reduction of credit facility in quarter four 2008 (October to December)

Party	Reduction of credit facility (£)
Scottish National Party	125,000
Total reduction of credit facility	125,000

Amount of money available in credit facilities by party as at 31 December 2008

Party	Credit facilities (£)
Conservative and Unionist Party	5,141,500
Labour Party	4,209,000
Liberal Democrats	586,000
Plaid Cymru The Party of Wales	300,000
Progressive Party	5,000
Scottish National Party	307,000
Scottish Socialist Party	10,000
Maximum amount of money available in credit facilities at 31 December 2008	10,558,500

Total number of connected transactions as at 31 December 2008

Party	Connected transactions (£)
Conservative and Unionist Party	10,000
Liberal Democrats	25,000
Progressive Party	105,000
Scottish National Party	190,000
Total number of connected transactions at 31 December 2008	330,000

Late reporting of donations and borrowing

Donations reported this quarter that should have been reported in previous quarters totalled £75,188.

Donations accepted in previous quarters and reported late this quarter

Party	Donations total (£)	Number of donations
Co-operative Party	8,753	1
Conservative and Unionist Party	22,876	6
Green Party	1,500	1
Labour Party	19,500	4
Liberal Democrats	6,000	4
Plaid Cymru	1,559	1
Total donations reported late	60,188	17

Borrowing reported this quarter that were entered into during previous quarters totalled £98,160.

Loans reported this quarter that should have been reported in previous quarters

Party	Loans total (£)	Number of Loans
Conservative and Unionist Party (new loan)	10,000	1
Conservative and Unionist Party (full repayment of loan)	75,000	1
Scottish National Party (new loan)	13,160	1
Total borrowing reported late	98,160	3

Notes

1. Charts and tables providing comparisons to previous quarters can be accessed at: www.electoralcommission.org.uk/party-finance/party-finance-analysis/party-finance-analysis-Q4 and here www.electoralcommission.org.uk/party-finance/party-finance-analysis. To search the register of donations to political parties, visit the Commissions website www.electoralcommission.org.uk and go to the registers page using the 'party finance' link at the top of the home page.
2. Details of all loans can be found here (along with details of interest rates and repayment or review dates): registers.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/loanstopolparties.cfm
3. Table of donations reported in quarter four 2008 which should have been reported previously can be accessed here in the Lates tab www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0008/68678/Q3-2008-Download.xls:
4. Table of loans and credit facilities reported in quarter four 2008 which should have been reported previously can be accessed here: registers.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/loanstopolparties.cfm/_nocache through the excel spreadsheet all borrowings reported late during the year 2008
5. The penalties for failure to submit statutory returns on time can be found at section 147 of PPERA, here: www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts2000/ukpga_20000041_en_15#pt10-pb5-l1g147
6. Some donations appear on the register as being from the House of Lords or House of Commons. These are Short and Cranborne grants which are available to parties in opposition in the House of Commons and House of Lords respectively.
7. Some donations appear on the register as being from the Electoral Commission. These are Policy Development Grants which were established by PPERA 2000 for parties represented in the Commons by two or more sitting members. The grants are intended to assist parties in developing the policies that they will present in an election manifesto. The legislation provides the total sum of £2 million annually for this purpose. Policy Development Grants became reportable as donations for the first time in quarter three of 2006 as a result of the Electoral Administration Act 2006.
8. Quarter three 2008 figures on donations and borrowing were published by the Electoral Commission on 26 November 2008. The press release can be accessed at: www.electoralcommission.org.uk/news-and-media/news-releases/electoral-commission-media-centre/news-releases-donations/political-parties-latest-donations-and-borrowing-figures-published