2010 UK general election - Parties and Third Parties

On this page you will find information about the expenditure incurred by political parties and third parties at the 2010 UK general election.

All parties are required to submit a campaign expenditure return and all invoices for each item of expenditure exceeding £200. The deadline for submission was 5 August 2010 for parties that spent up to £250,000 and 5 November for those which spent more than £250,000 (together with an independent auditor's certificate).

Please note that candidates' expenses are not included in the total provided by the parties as candidates are required to submit a separate return to their relevant (Acting) Returning Officer. To view copies of a candidates' return, please contact the relevant (Acting) Returning Officer or local council. To view a summary of the expenses incurred by candidates, please follow the link below:

• Candidates' expenses at the 2010 UK Parliamentary election

Below is a summary of the expenditure incurred by political and third parties with links to the returns and invoices. You will also be able to download Excel spreadsheets summarising the expenditure by type of payment and category, and divided by devolved areas of Great Britain:

• Great Britain political parties
• Analysis of spending by categories
• Northern Ireland political parties
• Third parties

To find out more:

• Click here for more information about legislation on party campaign expenditure.
• Click here for more information about legislation on candidate expenses.

For more information on the finance of political parties and other political organisations, please visit our PEF Online registers search or our Party Finance Analysis pages.

Please follow this link to view the campaign expenditure at the 2009 European Parliamentary election.

Great Britain parties

In this section you will find information about Great Britain parties' expenditure at the 2010 UK Parliamentary general election.

Quick download Campaign expenditure of parties registered in Great Britain sorted by payment type, area and category of expenditure with links to returns and invoices is available by clicking on the link below: 2010 UK general election - Great Britain political parties (XLS)

Please scroll down to view a summary table with direct links to returns and invoices.

Chart 1 - Spending broken down by party

The chart below shows the total spending at the 2001, 2005 and 2010 UK Parliamentary general elections, broken down by party.

Legislation on parties' expenditure commenced in February 2001. The 2001 campaign expenditure reports accordingly included only expenditure incurred between the date of commencement and polling day.  Spending limits were also calculated according to different criteria than that used in the 2005 and 2010 elections.

To view data on political parties expenditure at previous elections, please visit our PEF Online campaign expenditure search.

 

 

Table 1: Total expenditure by parties registered in Great Britain at the 2010 UK Parliamentary election

The table below lists the total expenditure of all parties that contested the 2010 UK general election on 6 May 2010.

You can view the returns and invoices submitted by the party by clicking on the relevant link. Individuals' personal information, bank accounts and party registration numbers have been redacted for security and data protection reasons.

Notes on how to read the information below: Return: the return is the official document submitted by the party in which they report their total expenditure. This has to be broken down by part of the UK, type of expenditure as defined in legislation and type of payment (payments made, unpaid claims, disputed claims and notional expenditure). Parties are also required to provide detail of all items of expenditure. We publish the returns as they are submitted by the parties. Invoices: Parties are required to submit the invoices of all items of expenditure above £200. In some cases, parties have numbered their invoices to ease cross-checking between the return and the invoices.

Returns for parties that reported no expenditure have not been published. Parties that fail to submit their campaign expenditure return on time are liable to incur civil penalties of at least £500.

Figures below are rounded to the nearest pound.

Party	Expenditure (£)	Return	Invoices
A Vote Against MP Expense Abuse	0	N/A	N/A
All The South Party	0	N/A	N/A
Alliance For Green Socialism	952	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Alliance for Workers' Liberty	0	N/A	N/A
Animals Count	0	N/A	N/A
Anticapitalists - Workers Power	833	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Apolitical Democrats	0	N/A	N/A
Best of a Bad Bunch	0	N/A	N/A
Better Britain Party [The]	1,033	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Blue Environment Party	0	N/A	N/A
British National Party	29,460	Return (PDF)  Return (XLS)	Invoices (PDF)
Bromsgrove Independent Conservative	0	N/A	N/A
Bushra Irfan of Blackburn	Return not submitted
Cambridge Socialists	0	N/A	N/A
Campaign for Independent Politicians	3,571	Return (PDF)	Not submitted
Christian Movement for Great Britain	0	N/A	N/A
Christian Party "Proclaiming Christ's Lordship"	29,217	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Christian Peoples Alliance	0	N/A	N/A
Church of the Militant Elvis	0	N/A	N/A
Citizens for Undead Rights and Equality	0	N/A	N/A
City INDEPENDENTS	0	N/A	N/A
Clause 28, Children's Protection Christian Democrats	0	N/A	N/A
Common Good [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Common Sense Party	Return not submitted
Communist League Election Campaign	0	N/A	N/A
Communist Party of Britain	220	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Conservative Party	16,682,874	Return 1 (PDF) Return 2 (PDF) Return 3 (PDF)	Invoices 1 (PDF) Invoices 2 (PDF) Invoices 3 (PDF)
Co-operative Party [The]	6,743	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Cut The Deficit	0	N/A	N/A
Democratic Labour Party	528	Return (PDF)	Not submitted
Democratic Nationalists	Return not submitted
Direct Democracy (Communist) Party	0	N/A	N/A
English Democrats Party	35,792	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
English Independence Party	0	N/A	N/A
Equal Parenting Alliance	100	Return (PDF)	N/A
Fancy Dress Party	0	N/A	N/A
Freedom and Responsibility	0	N/A	N/A
Get Snouts Out The Trough	0	N/A	N/A
Green Party	325,425	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Hugh Salmon for Battersea Party	0	N/A	N/A
Humanity	0	N/A	N/A
Impact Party	3,613	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Independent Ealing Acton Communities Public Services	0	N/A	N/A
Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern	159	Return (PDF)	N/A
INDEPENDENT Leave-the-EU Alliance	0	N/A	N/A
Independent People Together	350	Return (PDF)	Not submitted
Independent Save Our Green Belt	0	N/A	N/A
Independent Voice for Halifax	0	N/A	N/A
Independents Federation UK	0	N/A	N/A
Independents to Save Queen Mary's Hospital	0	N/A	N/A
Integrity UK	0	N/A	N/A
Islam Zinda Baad Platform	0	N/A	N/A
Jannen will put Brent North First	0	N/A	N/A
Joy of Talk [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Justice & Anti-Corruption Party [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Justice Party	0	N/A	N/A
Labour Party [The]	8,009,483	Return 1 (PDF) Return 2 (XLS)	Invoices 1 (PDF) Invoices 2 (PDF) Invoices 3 (PDF)
Landless Peasant Party	0	N/A	N/A
Lewisham For People Not Profit	3,711	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Liberal Democrats	4,787,595	Return 1 (PDF) Return 2 (XLS)	Invoices 1 (PDF) Invoices 2 (PDF)
Liberal Party [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Libertarian Party	0	N/A	N/A
Lincolnshire Independents Lincolnshire First	421	Return (PDF)	Not submitted
Local Liberals People Before Politics Party	0	N/A	N/A
Macclesfield Independent [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Magna Carta Party [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Mansfield Independent Forum	0	N/A	N/A
Matriarchal Party United Kingdom Great Britain	0	N/A	N/A
Mebyon Kernow - The Party for Cornwall	50	Return (PDF)	N/A
Medway Independent Party	0	N/A	N/A
Middle England Party	0	N/A	N/A
Money Reform Party	0	N/A	N/A
Movement for Active Democracy (M.A.D.)	0	N/A	N/A
National Front	0	N/A	N/A
National Liberal Party, The Third Way	0	N/A	N/A
Nationwide Reform Party	0	N/A	N/A
New Independent Conservative Chelsea and Fulham	0	N/A	N/A
New Millennium Bean Party	0	N/A	N/A
New Party [The]	0	N/A	N/A
No Candidate Deserves My Vote!	0	N/A	N/A
Nobody Party	0	N/A	N/A
Northampton - Save Our Public Services	1,677	Return (PDF)	Not submitted
Official Monster Raving Loony Party [The]	368	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
P.N.D.P. [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Peace Party - Non-violence, Justice, Environment [The]	901	Return (PDF)	Not submitted
Peoples Party Essex	0	N/A	N/A
People's Voice	0	N/A	N/A
Pirate Party UK	0	N/A	N/A
Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales [The]	144,933	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Radical Reform Group	0	N/A	N/A
Reduce Tax On Beer	0	N/A	N/A
Reform 2000 Party	0	N/A	N/A
Respect - The Unity Coalition	0	N/A	N/A
Restoration Party	0	N/A	N/A
Revolutionary Communist Party Britain (Marxist-Leninist)	0	N/A	N/A
Save King George Hospital	80	Return (PDF)	N/A
Science Party [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers	0	N/A	N/A
Scottish Green Party	21,822	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Scottish Jacobite Party [The]	Return not submitted
Scottish National Party	315,776	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Scottish Socialist Party	3,231	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Scrap Members Allowances	0	N/A	N/A
Social Democratic Party	0	N/A	N/A
Socialist Alternative	0	N/A	N/A
Socialist Equality Party	1,201	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Socialist Labour Party	0	N/A	N/A
Socialist Party of Great Britain [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Solidarity -  Scotland's Socialist Movement	2,370	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Solihull and Meriden Residents Association	0	N/A	N/A
Staffordshire Independent Group	0	N/A	N/A
Tamsin Omond To The Commons	0	N/A	N/A
Tendring First	0	N/A	N/A
The Animal Protection Party	2,210	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
The Buckinghamshire Campaign for Democracy	0	N/A	N/A
The Cornish Democrats	0	N/A	N/A
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition	5,314	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
True English (Poetry) Party [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Trust	38,350	Return (PDF)	Not submitted
UK Independence Party (UK I P)	732,780	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
United Voice	0	N/A	N/A
Unity For Peace And Socialism	0	N/A	N/A
Virtue Currency Cognitive Appraisal Party	0	N/A	N/A
Wessex Regionalists	0	N/A	N/A
Workers Revolutionary Party	0	N/A	N/A
You Party	0	N/A	N/A
Your Right To Democracy Party Limited	0	N/A	N/A
Youth Party [The]	0	N/A	N/A
Total	31,193,143

Analysis of spending by categories - parties registered in Great Britain

The charts below illustrate the spending by political parties at the UK Parliamentary general elections, broken down by categories of spending. Categories are set by the legislation and parties are required to report their expenditure broken down by categories and type of payments (payments made, notional payments, unpaid claim, disputed claims). To find out more, please follow this link.

Please download the Excel spreadsheet below to view the data on parties' campaign expenditure:

2010 UK general election - Great Britain political parties (XLS)

Chart 2: Spending by categories broken down by party at the 2010 UK general election

This chart illustrates the amount spent on each category,  broken down by parties.

 

Chart 3: Spending by all parties, by category, at the last three UK Parliamentary elections

This chart shows expenditure by all parties at the 2001, 2005 and 2010 UK Parliamentary elections.

Legislation on parties' expenditure commenced in February 2001. The 2001 campaign expenditure reports accordingly included only expenditure incurred between the date of commencement and polling day.  Spending limits were also calculated according to different criteria than that used in the 2005 and 2010 elections.

To view detailed data on political parties expenditure at previous elections, please visit our PEF Online campaign expenditure search.

 

 

Chart 4: Spending by party, by categories, at the last three general elections

Below you can see the spending by the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and all other parties broken down by categories of expenditure.

Legislation on parties' expenditure commenced in February 2001. The 2001 campaign expenditure reports accordingly included only expenditure incurred between the date of commencement and polling day.  Spending limits were also calculated according to different criteria than that used in the 2005 and 2010 elections.

 

  

Northern Ireland parties

In this section you will find information about Northern Ireland parties' expenditure at the 2010 UK Parliament election.

Quick download Campaign expenditure by Northern Ireland parties', divided by payment type, area and category is available by clicking on the link below: Summary table 2010 UK general election - Northern Ireland political parties (XLS)

Table 2: Total expenditure by Northern Ireland registered political parties at the 2010 UK Parliament election

The table below lists Northern Ireland parties that contested the 2010 UK general election and their total expenditure.

You can view the returns and invoices submitted by the party by clicking on the relevant link. Individuals' personal information, bank accounts and party registration numbers have been redacted for security reasons.

Notes on how to read the information:

Return: the return is the official document submitted by the party in which they report their total expenditure. This has to be broken down by area of the UK, type of expenditure as set in the legislation and type of payment (payments made, unpaid claims, disputed claims and notional expenditure). Parties are also required to provide details of all items of expenditure

We publish the returns as submitted by the parties.

Invoices: Parties are required to submit the invoices of all items of expenditure above £200. In some cases, parties have numbered their invoices to ease reference to the item of expenditure listed in the return.

Returns for parties that reported no expenditure have not been published. Parties that failed to submit their campaign expenditure return on time are liable to incur civil penalties of at least £500.

Figures below are rounded to the nearest pound.

Party	Total Expenditure (£)	Return	Invoices
Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	23,944	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Conservative And Unionist Party [The]	110,741	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.	59,086	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Green Party	6,304	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
People Before Profit Alliance	198	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party)	52,339	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Sinn Féin	64,078	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Traditional Unionist Voice - TUV	11,368	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Ulster Unionist Party	16,692	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Total	343,952

Third parties

In this section you will find information about third parties' expenditure at the 2010 UK Parliament election.

Quick download Controlled expenditure by all third parties' expenditure at the 2010 general election divided by payment type and area is available by clicking on the link below: Summary table 2010 UK general election - third parties (XLS)

Table 3: Controlled expenditure by registered third parties at the 2010 UK Parliament election

The table below lists third parties that campaigned at the 2010 UK general election and their expenditure divided by area.

Third parties are individuals or organisations, other than political parties or candidates, which campaign at an election. Third parties may campaign for or against individual candidates or for or against political parties or issues.

We also published donations received by third parties in connection to their campaigning at the 2010 UK general election that can be viewed through our PEF Online donations search.

You can view the returns and invoices submitted by the party by clicking on the relevant link. Individuals' personal information, bank accounts and party registration numbers have been redacted for security reasons.

Notes on how to read the information:

Return: the return is the official document submitted by the third party in which they report their total expenditure divided by area of the UK. Third parties are also required to provide details of all items of expenditure.

We publish the returns as submitted by the organisation.

Invoices: Third parties are required to submit the invoices of all items of expenditure above £200. In some cases, they have numbered their invoices to ease reference to the item of expenditure listed in the return.

Third parties that failed to submit their controlled expenditure return on time are subject to a civil penalties of at least £500..

Figures below are rounded to the nearest pound.

Third Party	Expenditure (£)					Return	Invoices
	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Total
38 Degrees	7,748	671	420	168	9,007	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
A Minority Pastime Limited	10,969	0	0	0	10,969	Return (PDF)	Not submitted
Community	0	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A
Evershed Patrick Mr	14,056	0	0	0	14,056	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
IFAW in Action	169,440	18,756	12,716	5,722	206,634	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Independent Network Campaign Ltd	42,494	3,903	3,189	1,434	51,020	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
May Brian Harold Dr	151,948	0	0	0	151,948	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Muslim Friends Of Labour	0	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A
National Union of Teachers	107,629	0	14,307	0	147,130	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Political Animal Lobby Limited	149,763	9,739	13,041	0	172,543	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Public and Commercial Services Union	55,469	20,699	5,231	3,394	84,794	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Searchlight Information Services Ltd	310,634	4,515	4,082	0	319,231	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Sentinel Publications Limited	0	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A
The Board of Deputies of British Jews Ltd	0	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A
The Campaign to End all Animal Experiments	4,916	540	360	180	5,996	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
The Democratic Reform Company	241,419	33,142	20,967	4,461	299,989	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
The League Against Cruel Sports	47,298	10,448	3,550	1,597	62,893	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
The Young Britons' Foundation	113,044	11,350	7,218	3,248	134,860	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Uncaged Campaigns Ltd	6,518	696	471	0	7,685	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians	12,469	2,500	0	0	14,969	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Union of UEA Students	0	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A
UNISON - The Public Service Union	671,167	-	699	-	671,866	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Unite	11,850	2,539	2,539	0	16,928	Return (PDF)	N/A
Unite Against Fascism	30,551	2,872	1,436	0	34,859	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
USDAW	4,101	544	296	0	4,941	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Vote Cruelty Free	12,578	1,381	920	460	15,339	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Vote For A Change Ltd*	515,850	20,021	13,574	6,109	555,554	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
	481,548	52,692	35,906	16,159	586,575	Return (PDF)	N/A
Vote-OK	18,188	0	957	0	19,145	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Wales TUC	0	0	4,298	0	4,298	Return (PDF)	Invoices (PDF)
Wight Robin Mr	6,100	0	0	0	6,100	Return (PDF)	N/A
Total	2,719,305	144,316	110,272	26,773	3,000,665

* *Following a case review regarding the Vote for a Change expenditure return. Vote for a Change submitted additional information on expenditure since the original return. Following further enquiries, further information was provided. The figures and downloadable files in the top row constitute the original return - those in the second row show the amended information.

 

To view details of third parties' expenditure at previous elections, please visit our PEF Online campaign expenditure search. To view donations received by third parties please visit our PEF Online donations 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).