Election expenditure

Political parties are required to submit a campaign expenditure return providing details of their spending at the following relevant elections: 

• United Kingdom Parliament
• European Parliament
• Scottish Parliament
• Welsh Assembly
• Northern Ireland Assembly 

In this section you will find summary tables, direct links to the returns and invoices and analysis of spending by political parties and third parties at the UK and European Parliamentary elections. All figures and information on which the analysis is based can be accessed through our PEF Online registers.

Alternatively, you can find information about election expenditure from 2001 through our PEF Online Campaign Expenditure search.

To view details of spending by campaigners at referendums, please visit our Refendum expenditure page.

Political and third party spending at the 2011 devolved elections

On 1 December 2011 we published the expenditure returns of political parties that spent more than £250,000 campaigning at the 2011 elections in Scotland and Wales. No party spent more than £250,000 in Northern Ireland. Spending by parties and third parties that spent £250,000 or less at the 2011 devolved elections was published in September 2011.

Please follow the link below to view headline figures and to access copies of all spending returns and invoices submitted.

• Campaign expenditure of political parties and third parties at the 2011 devolved elections.

Candidate expenditure

Although candidates do not report directly to us, we have also published data on the expenses incurred by candidates at the 2011 devolved elections to help people access this information more easily. Select the link below for data on spending at the National Assembly for Wales, Northern Ireland Assembly and Scottish Parliament elections:

• Candidates' expenses at the 2011 devolved elections (National Assembly for Wales published 19 October, Northern Ireland Assembly published 20 October, Scottish Parliament published 27 October)

Campaign expenditure by political parties at the 2010 UK Parliamentary general election and 2009 European Parliamentary elections

On 28 February 2011 we published our full report on campaign spending at the 2010 UK general election. This includes analysis of spending by political parties, third parties and individual candidates. The report also highlights a number of issues regarding the current regulatory regime. View the report:

• UK general election 2010: Campaign spending report (PDF)

Candidate expenditure

Although candidates do not report directly to us, we have also published data on the expenses incurred by canidates to help people access this information more easily. Select the links below for summary tables, returns, invoices and analysis of spending at the 2009 and 2010 elections:

• Campaign expenditure at the 2010 UK Parliamentary general election (published 2 December 2010)
• Candidates' expenses at the 2010 UK Parliamentary general election (published 10 December 2010)
• Campaign expenditure at the 2009 European Parliamentary election (published 5 January 2010)

Combined limits and expenditure for political parties

All parties contesting a relevant election are subject to limits on expenditure incurred in the period before an election. This period, defined as the 'regulated period', varies according to the type of election and during this time parties are limited as to the amount of expenditure they can incur.

For the UK Parliamentary election this period is 365 days before the general election while for the European Parliamentary election is 4 months before polling day. The 2009 European Parliamentary and the 2010 UK Parliamentary elections were held on 4 June 2009 and 6 May 2010 respectively. This means that the regulated periods for these two elections overlapped. Therefore parties who contested both elections were subject to a combined expenditure limit

Spending limits are calculated as follows:

• European Parliamentary elections: parties are permitted to spend £45,000 multiplied by the number of MEPs returned per region(s) they are contesting.
• UK Parliamentary elections: parties are permitted to spend £30,000 per constituency contested, or £810,000 in England, £120,000 in Scotland, and £60,000 in Wales (whichever is higher). In the case of candidates standing on behalf of two parties, the expenditure limit for each party is halved (to £15,000).

Find out more about campaign expenditure and limits here

Table 1: Combined limits and expenditure by political parties at the 2009 European Parliamentary and 2010 UK Parliamentary general elections

The table includes only parties that elected at least one MP or MEP or with a total combined expenditure of at least £250,000.

Please note that the limits are based on the number of seats reported by the parties.

Figures are rounded to the nearest pound.

Chart 1: Parties combined expenditure and limits

This chart illustrates parties' combined spending at the 2009 European Parliamentary election and 2010 UK Parliamentary election and their spending limit, which is represented with the red bar. The parties includes only parties whose combined spending exceeded £250,000.

All parties spent within the limits. 

Chart 2: Great Britain parties expenditure at the last two European Parliament elections and UK Parliament elections

The chart below shows the total spending by political parties at the last two UK Parliamentary and European Parliamentary elections.

For more information on parties campaign expenditure please follow the links below:

• Campaign expenditure at the 2010 UK Parliamentary general election
• Campaign expenditure at the 2009 European Parliamentary election
• PEF Online campaign expenditure search 

Contact us

For questions or requests, please contact the Party and Election Finance Directorate by email (pef@electoralcommission.org.uk) or telephone (020 72710616).