This guidance is for non-party campaigners who are campaigning locally at Scottish Parliamentary elections.

Under the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2015, non-party campaigners must follow rules about how much they can spend on campaign activities in the run up to certain elections.

This guidance explains how the rules apply.

Non-party campaigners are individuals or organisations that campaign in elections but are not standing as political parties or candidates. 

Non-party campaigners must follow certain rules in the run-up to elections.

The types of non-party campaigns

There are two types of non-party campaigns. These are:

Please see Non-party campaigners: Scottish Parliamentary elections for guidance on general campaigns.

If you are campaigning for or against 

• one or more candidates in a particular constituency
• one or more independent regional candidates

at a Scottish Parliamentary election, you are covered by the rules for local campaigns. This includes where you are campaigning against a political party or party list candidate in favour of an individual regional candidate.

Under the local campaign rules, there are limits on how much you can spend on this campaigning.

These spending limits cover spending on most campaign activities, including leaflets, meetings and digital campaigning.

The Electoral Commission does not regulate local campaigning. Complaints about possible breaches should be made to the police.

Local non-party campaigners can spend up to £500 on campaigning for or against one or more individual candidates in a constituency, or one or more independent regional candidates.1 This is known as the permitted sum. It applies once the candidate is officially a candidate.

The earliest someone can officially become a candidate is Thursday 26 March 2026.2 You can find more information about when people become candidates in our guidance for candidates and agents at Scottish Parliamentary elections. 

You should keep a record of your spending, to make sure that you do not exceed the permitted sum.

You can only spend over the permitted sum if it is authorised in writing by the agent of the relevant candidate.3 The authorised spending will be candidate spending and will count towards the candidate’s spending limit.4 If you have been authorised to incur candidate spending, you should read our guidance for candidates and agents.

If authorisation is given, the agent will need to include your spending in the candidate's spending return. You will need to give the agent the necessary details for that spending to be included. You must also complete a spending return and declaration and deliver these to the relevant Returning Officer within 21 days of the result being declared.1

You can find contact details for the local elections office using our postcode lookup.

The spending return and declaration forms will be available ahead of the start of the regulated period.

In both documents you must include:

• the name of the constituency or region 
• the date of publication of notice of the election (you can find this out from your local Returning Officer)
• the name of the candidate whose agent authorised, the spending
• your name as the organisation or individual who incurred the spending

In the return you must include your total amount of spending, and you must attach the agent's written authorisation for your spending.

In the declaration you must declare that the return is complete and correct, and include details about what the spending was on, under “the matters for which the spending referred to were incurred”.

Under the law, some campaign material must contain details to show who is responsible for the material. This provides transparency for voters.

If you produce material that relates to an electoral event, or to a party, candidate or elected office-holder, you may need to include an imprint.

Imprints can be required on digital material and printed material.

Imprints for non-party campaigners at Scottish Parliamentary elections and council elections in Scotland