Registered officers of political parties will have a particular role within a party. Their roles will also carry certain statutory responsibilities.
Party leader
A party leader must be the overall leader of the party. If your party does not have an overall leader (if you have co-leaders, for example), you must register a person who is the leader for a particular purpose within the party. For example a final decision maker on internal party matters.
In the event that the party treasurer is no longer in post, the party leader will become the interim treasurer until the party notifies us of a replacement treasurer.
Party treasurer
The registered treasurer of a political party has significant legal responsibilities. They must ensure the party complies with the political finance rules set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA). It is therefore important that an appropriate person is registered as the party’s treasurer.
The treasurer must not have been convicted of any election offences in the 5 years before their appointment.
Nominating officer
The nominating officer for the party has overall responsibility for arranging the nomination of candidates and approving the party identity marks used on nomination forms and ballot papers at elections.
There is no provision under PPERA to register a deputy nominating officer. However, the registered nominating officer can authorise in writing someone to act on their behalf.
Additional officer
If you register an additional officer, they will have an official role of some kind in the party. You must register an additional officer with us if the party’s leader, treasurer, and nominating officer are the same person, and you do not have a campaigns officer. If this is not the case, then you cannot register an additional officer with us.
Campaigns officer
The campaigns officer will have responsibility for compliance with the financial reporting rules for campaign expenditure at particular elections. They will take these responsibilities from the treasurer of the party.
The campaigns officer must not have been convicted of any election offences within 5 years of their appointment and cannot be the same person as the treasurer.
Deputy treasurer and deputy campaigns officer
The registered treasurer or campaigns officer of the party can appoint up to 12 deputy officers to assist with authorising campaign expenditure. You may find this useful if your party is contesting a lot of seats. Use Form RP5 to register deputy officers.