Guidance for Candidates and Agents at local government elections in England

A donation is money, goods, property or services which are given towards your candidate spending with a value of over £50.1 Anything with a value of £50 or less does not count as a donation.

The donation controls for candidates apply once you are officially a candidate.2

Something can still be a candidate donation even if it is given after polling day – for example, if it is given to reimburse money you have spent on your campaign.

The types of donations regulated under the law are:

• gifts of money or other property (items, goods or services)3
• payment of an invoice for candidate spending that would otherwise be paid by you4
• loans that are not on commercial terms5
• free or specially discounted use of items, goods, services or facilities6
• sponsorship of an event, publication, study or research7

Commercial and non-commercial terms

On commercial terms means where the item, goods or service is being provided at its market value.

Some donations are only regulated if they are provided to you on non-commercial terms. This includes loans and free or specially discounted use of items, goods, services or facilities.

In contrast, sponsorship may include transfers of money or property to you on commercial terms. The law covers sponsorship and other types of donations to provide transparency on different methods of financial support provided to you. Please see Sponsorship for more information.

Donations of £50 or less

Donations of £50 or less are outside the scope of electoral law and you do not need to record or report them.

However, it is an offence to attempt to evade the controls on donations. You must be alert to situations where it appears that a donor is attempting to evade permissibility restrictions.8 For example, if a number of donations of £49 are made from the same source in similar circumstances in an attempt to evade the permissibility rules.

If you think this may be happening, you should contact us for advice.