Candidate imprints: Scottish Parliamentary elections and council elections in Scotland
Under the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc) Order 2015, the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the Elections Act 2022, there are rules about putting imprints on election material.
Whenever printed or digital election material is produced, it must contain certain details (which we refer to as an ‘imprint’) to show who is responsible for the material. This helps to ensure there is transparency about who is campaigning.
We provide advice and guidance on these rules, but we do not enforce them. Decisions on the investigation and prosecution of imprint offences are a matter for the police and the prosecution services, and any allegations of non-compliance should be made to the police.
The rules on imprints apply to all constituency candidates and individual regional candidates at Scottish Parliamentary elections, and to all candidates at council elections in Scotland.
Scottish candidate imprints summary box
The new digital imprint rules in the Elections Act 2022 apply across the whole UK, including to candidates at Scottish Parliamentary elections and council elections in Scotland.
We expect the Scottish government to update Scottish digital imprint legislation before the next scheduled polls. When that happens, we will update this guidance.
In the meantime, candidates at any by-elections to the Scottish Parliament or to a Scottish council will be covered by the Scottish digital imprints law and the UK digital imprints law at the same time. You will need to understand both regimes in order to comply.
This factsheet explains the law on print imprints and the Scottish law on digital imprints.
For the UK digital imprint laws, please see our statutory guidance.
For the imprint rules for candidates in other elections, please see our separate candidate imprint guidance.
If you have any queries about how the law applies, please contact us at [email protected].
What is candidate election material?
Candidate election material is published material such as leaflets and adverts that can be reasonably regarded as intended to promote or procure the election of a candidate at an election.
Candidate election material also includes material that criticises other candidates.
What must you include?
On printed election material such as leaflets and posters, you must include the name and address of:
- the printer
- the promoter
- any person on behalf of whom the material is being published (and who is not the promoter)
On digital election material containing text distributed via the internet, you must include the name and address of:
- the promoter
- any person on behalf of whom the material is being published (and who is not the promoter)
The promoter is whoever has caused the material to be published.
You must use an address where you can be contacted. You can use a home address or an office or business address. You can also use a PO Box address or other mailbox service.
If you are putting an advert in a print newspaper, your advert does not need to include the printer’s name and address, but the name and address of the printer of the newspaper must appear on the first or last page of the newspaper. The advert must include the other details as usual.
If you are being paid to publish election material, the material must include an imprint which includes the details of whoever is paying you. This is because either they are the promoter, or you are publishing the material on their behalf.
In all cases, you must make sure that the imprint lists all the organisations involved in publishing and promoting the material.
It is an offence for a printer or promoter to publish printed election material without an imprint.
Does everyone have to include an imprint?
For printed material such as leaflets and posters, anyone who promotes or prints election material must include an imprint by law.
For digital material, you do not have to include an imprint on your election material if you are expressing your personal opinion in material published on your own behalf and on a non-commercial basis.
Some people cannot use the personal opinion exemption due to their legal responsibilities under electoral law.
If you are one of these people, you must include an imprint on any digital election material containing text even if it is your personal opinion.
These people are:
- A candidate at the election
- An election agent or deputy election agent at a Scottish Parliamentary election, Scottish council election, or certain other elections
- A holder of elective office:
- a member of the House of Commons
- a member of the Scottish Parliament
- a member of the Senedd
- a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
- a Police and Crime Commissioner
- a member of any local authority in the UK, excluding parish or community councils
- a member of the Greater London Authority
- the Mayor of London or any other elected mayor
- A registered officer of a political party or one of its accounting units:
- party leader
- treasurer
- deputy treasurer
- nominating officer
- campaigns officer
- deputy campaigns officer
- accounting unit treasurer
- accounting unit second officer
A responsible person for a registered non-party campaigner
An organisation cannot use the personal opinion exemption.
For the separate UK-wide digital imprints regime which also applies, see our statutory guidance.
Examples of an imprint
For the candidate’s own material, the promoter will usually be the agent. The person on whose behalf the material is being published will usually be the candidate.
An imprint on printed candidate campaign material should look like this:
- Printed by [printer’s name and address].
- Promoted by [agent’s name and address], on behalf of [candidate’s name and address].
For example:
Printed by Armadillo Printing Ltd, 22 Thornfields Avenue, Glasgow, G9 1AB.
Promoted by John Smith, 110 High Street, Airdrie, AD1 1AD on behalf of Jane Smith of 112 High Street, Airdrie, AD1 1AD.
or where you are using an office address:
Printed by Armadillo Printing Ltd, 22 Thornfields Avenue, Glasgow, G9 1AB.
Promoted by John Smith, on behalf of Jane Smith of 112 High Street, Airdrie, AD1 1AD.
If the material is digital there is no printer, so a digital imprint on candidate campaign material should look like this:
Promoted by John Smith, on behalf of Jane Smith, both of 112 High Street, Airdrie, AD1 1AD.
Where the candidate is also the promoter of the material, the ‘on behalf of’ part of the imprint is not required. This may happen when a candidate is their own agent.
For example:
Printed by Armadillo Printing Ltd, 22 Thornfields Avenue, Glasgow, G9 1AB.
Promoted by Jane Smith of 112 High Street, Airdrie, AD1 1AD
If the candidate also prints leaflets using their own printer, the imprint should look like this:
Printed and promoted by Jane Smith of 112 High Street, Airdrie, AD1 1AD.
Where do you put the imprint?
If your material is a single-sided printed document – such as a window poster – or where most of the information is on one side, you must put the imprint on that side of the document.
If it is a multi-sided printed document, you must put it on the first or last page.
The UK legislation on digital imprints has requirements on where a digital imprint must appear – see our statutory guidance for details.
How big must the imprint be?
For printed material at Scottish Parliamentary elections, there is a minimum size for imprints. For printed material of size A4 or larger:
- the type must be at least as big as size 11 Times New Roman without being narrowed
- there must be a space between text lines of at least 3mm
For printed material smaller than A4:
- the type must be at least as big as size 9 Times New Roman without being narrowed
- there must be a space between text lines of at least 2mm
We recommend that your imprints are also this size on printed material relating to council elections in Scotland.