This guidance is for non-party campaigners who are campaigning at local elections in England.

Under the Representation of the People Act 1983, 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 have to follow certain rules in the run-up to elections.

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

This guidance covers the laws for local campaigns.

Spending on general campaigns is only regulated in the run-up to elections to:

• the UK Parliament
• the Scottish Parliament
• the Senedd
• the Northern Ireland Assembly

You can find guidance for other election types on our non-party campaigner search page.

If you are campaigning for or against a candidate at a local election in England, you are covered by the rules for local campaigns.

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

Under the local campaign rules, there are limits on how much you can spend on campaigning for or against particular candidates in a constituency or local electoral area. These limits are different, depending on the size of the electorate in the relevant area.

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

Local non-party campaigners can spend up to £50 + 0.5p per elector campaigning for or against a candidate in the ward. This is the permitted sum.

The number of electors is the number of local government electors registered to vote on the last day for publication of the notice of election in the ward.1  It applies once the candidate is officially a candidate (see When do you officially become a candidate?).

For example

If there are 1,000 people on the ward electoral register, your spending limit for campaigning for or against a candidate would be: 

• £50 + (1000 x 0.5p)
• £50 + (£5) = £55

Your local elections office will be able to give you the number of electors in the ward. 

You can find the contact details for your local elections office on our Elections in your area page.

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

Any spending over these limits must be authorised by the agent of the relevant candidate. The authorised spending will count as candidate spending and towards the candidate’s spending limit.2

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 spending return. You will need to give the agent the necessary details for that spending to be included.

If you spend more than the limit 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.

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

In both documents you must include:

• the constituency name
• the date of publication of notice of the election (you can find this out from your local Returning Officer)
• the name of the election agent who authorised the spending
• 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.

Statutory guidance on digital imprints – UK-wide

Print imprints: Non-party campaigners at UK Parliamentary elections and elections in England, Wales and Northern Ireland