Candidates are required by law to follow certain rules regarding:
how much they can spend
who they can accept donations from
what they must report after the election
To support candidates and agents in calculating the spending limit, you must provide on written request information on the total number of constituent councils together with the total number of local government electors – excluding any attainers who will not be 18 years of age on or before polling day – on the registers across the combined authority area on the last day for the publication of the notice of election, which is on the twenty-fifth working day before the poll.1
You should liaise with EROs across the combined authority area to obtain the electorate figures as soon as the registers, as they will be in force on the twenty-fifth working day before the poll, are available. You should ensure that you provide this information to all candidates in a timely manner, whether or not a written request is made, so that they can meet their statutory obligations. As a minimum, this information must be supplied as soon as practicable after receiving a written request.2
The electorate figures will, in most cases, be those based on the monthly notice of alteration published before the twenty-fifth working day before the poll. The only exception to this is if there has been an unscheduled election in a part of the combined authority area in which case the final figures may not be known until an election notice of alteration is published.
We have produced guidance for candidates and agents on spending and donations at a combined authority mayoral election which you can use to provide candidates and agents with information on spending limits and donation controls, as well as returns and declarations in order to enable them to meet their reporting requirements.
Our template presentation for candidates and agents also contains guidance on spending and donations.