Guidance for Candidates and Agents at UK Parliamentary general elections in Great Britain

Local party fighting funds  

Many political parties run local fighting funds for candidates. If the fund is managed and controlled by the party and not the candidate, donations to the fund are usually treated as made to the party and you do not need to treat them as donations to the candidate, unless the donations are specially made towards your election campaign.

However, you will need to report donations from the local party that are made for the purpose of meeting your campaign spending.  

For example, a party branch collects donations to raise funds for election campaigning in the local area. If the local party makes it clear that these donations are made for the purpose of meeting the candidate’s election expenses, or a donor specifies their donation is being made for this purpose, then this is a candidate donation.

Any donations held on your behalf must be made available for your use. This includes donations held on your behalf by your political party or someone else.

Last updated: 29 November 2023