Guidance for (Acting) Returning Officers administering a UK Parliamentary election in Great Britain

What you need to do with spending returns

You must send copies of election spending returns and declarations to the Electoral Commission as soon as reasonably practicable after the return or declaration is received.1 Please also provide copies of the relevant invoices and receipts.

Could you please also provide, to enable us to carry out our compliance duties:

  • electorate figures for each constituency (used to calculate the candidates’ spending limit)
  • the spending limit provided to candidates, if applicable
  • confirmation of any candidates who did not submit a return 
  • statement of persons nominated, notice of agents, and declaration of result for each election

Our preferred method of receipt is secure document transfer, which will make the process of delivering these returns easier for you. The Commission can provide access to a secure document transfer system on request. Please contact us at [email protected] to arrange this.

If for any reason you prefer to email the returns, please email scanned PDF copies to [email protected]. It will be of significant help to us in processing emailed returns, and prevent queries from us to you, if you:

  • scan each candidate’s spending return, with the relevant invoices and receipts, separately
  • send each return by separate email, as very large attachments will be rejected by our server
  • identify the constituency and the candidate name in the subject line of the email 
  • do not password protect emails or provide passwords or secure websites – a normal email is fine

If neither of the above options are viable, you can forward paper copies of the returns to the following address:

Party and Election Finance
The Electoral Commission
3 Bunhill Row
London
EC1Y 8YZ
 

Last updated: 28 August 2024