Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23

It has been a very busy year for the Electoral Commission in its work to support stakeholders in every part of the UK. I would like to thank all the staff of the Commission for their dedication, professionalism and expertise in providing independent and impartial advice and guidance to voters, administrators, and the regulated community. 

A particular focus this year has been preparing for the implementation of the UK Elections Act alongside the distinct electoral agendas in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Commission works flexibly as one cohesive unit across these geographies, challenges and opportunities.

We are committed to putting the voter first. We know that public awareness of the electoral system is hugely important to voter engagement and confidence. We have invested in ensuring people can understand what the changes mean for them and how to take part in elections. More widely, we have made efforts to support newly enfranchised and young voters to get involved in the democratic process.

This work is coupled with support for electoral administrators, responsible for delivering the changes on the ground. Our guidance is designed to help them fulfil their responsibilities, against the challenging backdrop of resource constraints and legal complexity. Their work and dedication have been paramount to ensuring the changes were implemented well. Those in England and Northern Ireland with elections in May 2023 have been particularly busy, but administrators in Scotland and Wales have also been preparing for new measures at future polls.

There have also been changes for campaigners to get to grips with. We continue to invest in the regulatory support and advice on offer to help parties and campaigners understand and meet their legal obligations and achieve compliance. I am pleased with the level of take up from the parties and the quality of engagement we’ve had with them.

I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet a broad spectrum of our stakeholders and those involved in democratic and political systems across the UK. During the year, the Commission Board travelled to Belfast and Chorley for engaging meetings with local organisations, youth groups, candidates, councillors and administrators. Other similar visits are planned in the coming year to support us in hearing direct from stakeholders. We were delighted to be joined by Mr Speaker in his home constituency to discuss our constructive engagement with the Speaker’s Committee, through which we are accountable to UK Parliament.

Hearing a range of voices and views is so important to understanding how the Commission can continue to improve and be ready for future demands. It goes hand in hand with ongoing research into modernising elections which, together, will be used to support recommendations to the UK’s governments about how the electoral system can continue to support participation in the democratic process.

In October, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament published its report on our work. We welcomed its findings on the urgent need for consolidation, updating and improvement of electoral law. The report also made recommendations to ensure the Commission remains capable of responding to the challenges the electoral system faces, and recognised that operational independence is a fundamental aspect.

In responding to the UK Government’s consultation on its proposed Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission, we shared our view that such a statement – by which the government can guide our work – is inconsistent with our role. Both the Speaker’s Committee and Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee highlighted the importance of maintaining the Commission’s independence and the risks posed by such a statement. We await the next stage in this process, but the Board remains firmly committed to independent decision-making, acting according to the needs and interests of the whole electoral community, including voters.

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge that this year we have been responding to a cyber-attack by a hostile actor. This has been a major challenge and important learnings have been taken forward. I apologise to all those, including staff of the Commission, whose personal data has been put at risk.
The Commission puts independence and impartiality at the heart of all its does, and that focus will continue in all our work in the year ahead.

John Pullinger CB, Chair

The Commission has, rightly, set itself ambitious objectives in its Corporate Plan, and work to deliver on those goals has been happening at pace.

Our teams in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have worked tirelessly to provide high-quality and efficient services to all those we support.

A great deal of effort and expertise has been dedicated to ensuring that the May 2023 elections could be delivered in a way that maintained voter confidence. This was a particular challenge this year, with new changes brought in by the Elections Act layered onto an already complex system.

The Commission’s awareness campaign about the new requirement to show voter ID was the most publicly visible illustration of the work that went into ensuring everyone could take part; this was a truly integrated campaign combining paid advertising and partnership engagement, with press, social media and voter information activity.

But voter ID is not the only change from the Elections Act. Throughout the year, the Commission also held consultations on a Code of Practice for non-party campaigners, the introduction of digital imprints, and new accessibility measures at polling stations. Engagement with parties, campaigners, electoral administrators and partners allowed us to improve the usefulness of our guidance and enhance our evidence base about how the law is applied in practice.

We continue to invest and focus on how we can best support our regulated community to understand the law and achieve compliance. The laws around political finance play a big part in providing transparency and maintaining voter confidence in the fairness of the system. Our database now provides information on over £1bn of donations reported by parties and campaigners since the Commission was established in 2000. This is a noteworthy milestone and one that demonstrates the level of information that we make available for everyone to see. We will continue to highlight areas where the UK’s political finance system could be reformed to increase confidence in the system.

We are also committed to supporting and championing the voice of young and future voters. In January, over 220 schools across the UK signed up to take part in Welcome to Your Vote Week. This is a focal point of our learning work, which aims to promote greater consistency in political literacy education, and increase political knowledge and understanding amongst young people. This is an important and growing area of our work, and it’s been great to see it go from strength to strength.

Within the Commission we also continue to make positive changes. In response to a cyber-attack on the organisation, considerable improvements have been made to the organisation’s digital infrastructure, which recognises the potential risks from cyber-attacks, and helps to protect our systems from such incidents in the future. Work continues on replacing the current online system for registering political parties and reporting financial information, and we regret that the project was not completed in this financial year as hoped.

We have developed a new People Strategy for 2022-25, which sets out planned improvements to improve HR systems, learning and development, recruitment, and performance management. A new development programme was also launched this year, which aims to strengthen the personal leadership skills of our people and to improve and strengthen the Commission’s overall culture.

It has been rewarding to see these positive changes over the last year. The executive team and I remain committed to ensuring the Commission is in the best possible position to maximise our performance and support our people and stakeholders.

Shaun McNally CBE, Chief Executive

We continue to demonstrate our independence and integrity by taking decisions on the evidence and being transparent about the reasons for them; basing our policy positions and recommendations on analysis of evidence; effectively communicating our work and views; providing responsive services to those we support; and maintaining effective governance arrangements.

We implement refreshed working practices to reflect wider changes in our work environment and culture; attract, retain and develop the people we need; maintain and improve high standards of management, with a focus on developing our people; and further embed equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our work.

We procure and implement value for money technology that improves service delivery as appropriate; maintain a sound prudent financial strategy; continue to develop techniques to learn from experience, seek continuous improvement and become more efficient and effective; develop a corporate environmental strategy that meets policy and legislative requirements.