Guidance for Candidates and Agents at Scottish Parliament elections

The following section provides guidance on candidate spending at Scottish Parliamentary elections.

This guidance covers:

• how much you can spend in the lead up to the election
• which activities count as candidate spending
• what records you must keep
• how to account for different types of spending

For constituency candidates and individual regional candidates, the election agent has the main responsibility for complying with these laws, even if they appoint a sub-agent to help you with your expenses. However, candidates should be fully aware of the laws as both the candidate and agent must declare that the spending return is complete and accurate to the best of their knowledge and belief.1

See who is responsible for candidate spending? for more information about the responsibilities of the agent and candidate.

For party list candidates, their spending is the responsibility of the party. This Spending section of the guidance only applies to constituency candidates and individual regional candidates, unless it specifically mentions party list candidates.