Non-party campaigners: Scottish Parliamentary elections

If you are considering campaigning in the run-up to the Scottish Parliamentary election, you must be aware of the laws you must follow, which are covered by this guidance. Your reporting requirements and responsibilities will depend on how much you spend on regulated campaign activities during this period.

Your spending on regulated campaigning includes:

• spending paid by you, including spending on items or services bought before the regulated period begins and used during it1
• the value of something provided to you that you use in the campaign (notional spending)
• spending by your joint campaign partners when you campaign together with others in certain arrangements (joint campaigning)
• spending on regulated campaign activities relating to other elections in Scotland during the regulated period, such as spending at any local elections or by-elections.

You should not include spending that falls within the candidate or political party spending controls, or spending on activities that are not regulated. The activities that will and will not be regulated are detailed in this guidance. 

The lowest spending limit you must be aware of for campaigning at Scottish Parliamentary elections is £700. Anyone can spend up to £700 on regulated campaign activities, but only certain UK-based individuals and organisations can spend more than this.2  These are individuals and organisations that are eligible to register with us. The full list of eligible individuals and organisations can be found in Who can register?

If you are eligible to register, you can spend up to £10,000 in Scotland.3  Campaigners intending to spend more than £10,000 can register with us to be included on the register of non-party campaigners. We call these ‘registered non-party campaigners’.

Registered non-party campaigners can spend a maximum of £75,800 on regulated campaign activities in Scotland and must report their spending and donations to us after the election.4

For all non-party campaigners, you must also follow the laws about including imprints on election material. These apply whenever certain election material is produced, regardless of how much you spend or whether you are registered with the Electoral Commission.

The following table provides an overview of the responsibilities of non-party campaigners according to the amount they intend to spend on regulated campaign activities.