Intro
Under the Representation of the People Act 1983 and associated legislation, there are rules about putting imprints on printed election material.
Candidate election material is any material that can be reasonably regarded as intended to promote or procure the election of a candidate at an election.
Whenever printed 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 candidates. Different imprint rules apply for candidates in Scottish Parliamentary elections and council elections in Scotland. Please see Candidate imprints – Scottish Parliamentary elections and council elections in Scotland for more details.
This factsheet explains the rules you must follow if you are a candidate in any other election.
Under the Elections Act 2022, imprints are also required on certain digital material. This factsheet does not cover that part of the law. For the imprint requirements on digital material, please see our statutory guidance on digital imprints.
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)
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.
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 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.
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.
For the law on where imprints must appear on digital material, please see our statutory guidance on digital imprints.