Sometimes, you may need to split your costs between activities that count as candidate spending and those that don’t.
For example, between:
items used both before and during the regulated period
your campaign spending and other activities such as an office that you share with your party
leaflets that promote both your party’s Mayoral candidate and a constituency candidate
In all cases you should make an honest assessment, based on the facts, of the proportion of expenditure that can fairly be attributed to your candidate spending.
For example, if you are sharing a party office, the telephone bill may only provide a breakdown of the cost of calls over a certain value.
In these cases, you should consider the best way of making an honest assessment on the information you have. For example, you could compare the bill with one that does not cover a regulated period.
It is your responsibility to report your candidate spending fully and accurately. You should ensure you understand the rules and that all spending is properly authorised, recorded, and reported.
After the election, you will have to sign a declaration to declare that it is complete and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief.1
It is an offence to knowingly make a false declaration.2
If you are still not sure, call or email us for advice.
Splitting costs between campaigns for different candidates
If your party is standing candidates for more than one role at the Greater London Authority, you are likely to produce materials and hold events that promote more than one candidate.
In these cases, you will need to split spending between the different contests. You should do so by making an honest assessment, based on the facts, of the proportion of the cost that can be fairly attributed to each candidate’s spending, as above.
If you are not acting as the agent for all the candidates, you should agree the split with any other agents concerned.
Spending by candidates standing on a party list does not need to be split as there is a single limit for the whole list.