Personal expenses include the reasonable travel and living expenses of the candidate for the purposes of and in relation to the election.1
Personal expenses are reportable throughout the regulated period. Once you are officially a candidate, you can only pay up to £900 in total of personal expenses. Your party’s treasurer must pay any sums above this amount.2
There is no limit to how much candidates can pay for personal expenses before they officially become a candidate.
Personal expenses can include:
public transport or taxi fares
purchasing fuel for a vehicle or charging an electric vehicle
hiring a car if you do not already own a car, or if it is not suitable for campaigning
staying at a hotel
For some personal expenses, you will need to estimate the proportion of your costs that are attributable to the election. For example, if you own a car, some of the fuel or charging costs during the election period are likely to be for other purposes. You should make an honest and reasonable assessment of these costs.
For domestic charging of electric vehicles, where there is no specific invoice for charging, you can estimate the cost by:
comparing the capacity of the vehicle’s battery with your cost per unit of electricity, and reporting an estimate of how many full charges are attributable to the election, or
comparing your vehicle’s mileage per unit of electricity to your cost per unit of electricity, and reporting an estimate of mileage attributable to the election