4. Supporting and securing campaigner compliance with the law in Wales

Campaigners being able to get their messages to voters is a fundamental part of the democratic process. Campaigners, including parties, must be able to communicate with voters to explain their views and policies, so that voters are informed when they vote. And it’s important that voters hear from a wide and diverse variety of campaigners.

So campaigners must be able to campaign without facing undue actual or perceived barriers, while we continue to ensure political finance is transparent. We will improve the transparency of political campaigning, and help parties and campaigners to comply with the law, by:

  • ensuring campaigners can access support to understand the law in the way and at the time that works best for them
  • ensuring political finance laws are enforced fairly, working with law enforcement and other regulators
  • publishing complete and accurate political finance data
  • providing insights to campaigners and parliaments on how campaigning methods directly affect voter confidence in elections

Ensuring campaigners can access support to understand the law in the way and at the time that works best for them

Electoral law is complicated, but understanding and applying it should not be a barrier to those who want to campaign. We will work to ensure that campaigners can get on with campaigning, and examine barriers – both real and perceived – which prevent people who want to campaign from doing so. We will use these insights to ensure our guidance and other support tools work well for all campaigners no matter their financial size or experience.

We will also complete and consolidate the strategic shift in the way we approach regulation outlined in our last Interim Corporate plan, putting greater emphasis on tools to promote compliance. We will launch our new Political Finance Online database, continue to develop our proactive support for campaigners, transition to an intelligence-led approach to monitoring, and embed an effective regulatory insights and horizon-scanning process. We will also work with our partners to provide cybersecurity advice to parties and campaigners.

We will work closely with the Welsh Government to update the statutory Codes of Practice on election spending prior to the 2026 Senedd election, if necessary. We will ensure they reflect any changes to the law that are made. We will also support the Welsh Government with considering other future changes to the law, such as the potential introduction of digital imprints.

We will also continue to work with Senedd officials as they draft the new reporting rules and processes to enable the rules to be adopted and dual reporting brought to an end. The Standards and Business Committees in the Fifth Senedd agreed that dual reporting will be brought to an end in Wales and that elected members will only be required to report to the Senedd.
 

Ensuring political finance laws are enforced fairly, working with law enforcement and other regulators

Parties, other campaigners and voters want confidence that political finance laws are enforced proportionately, consistently, and impartially. We will continue to conduct investigations, and be transparent about the outcomes of all our work.

We will ensure the way we respond to electoral fraud is as effective as it can be, and will provide support and advice to regulators and law enforcement.

Publishing complete and accurate political finance data

Compliance with the political finance reporting laws is already high. We will work to make compliance even higher, by introducing compliance tools that work for a range of campaigners, and through proportionate and impartial enforcement of the law.

In Section 3, we noted our plans to make political finance data more accessible for voters. Our new Political Finance Online database will also be an important tool for campaigners, making reporting easier and faster. We will work to ensure consistent timely publication of financial data from parties, candidates and campaigners.

Providing insights to campaigners and parliaments on how campaigning methods directly affect voter confidence in elections

In Section 3, we noted our plans to help voters understand the rules on campaigning, with the aim of increasing confidence in elections. Another way we aim to increase voter confidence is by providing evidence-based insights to campaigners and parliaments to ensure they better understand the impact that different campaigning methods have on the way voters perceive elections and their results. We will also provide support and advice on new and developing campaigning methods.