NI political parties accept over £400,000 in donations in third quarter of 2024
Political parties registered in Northern Ireland reported accepting £412,853 in donations and public funds during the third quarter of 2024 (July to September).
This compares to £594,067 accepted in the same period in 2023, and £477,461 in the previous quarter.
Cahir Hughes, Head of the Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland, said:
“Just under half a million pounds of donations were accepted by political parties in Northern Ireland in three months.
“We know that voters are interested in where parties get their money from, and this publication is an important part of delivering this transparency for voters. However, we’ve seen for some time that public confidence in the transparency of party and campaigner finance is declining. We continue to recommend to the UK Government that it introduces laws to help protect parties from those who seek to evade the law and give voters more confidence in the process by requiring more checks on the identity of donors.”
The political parties to report donations in Q3 2024 were:
| Party | Total reported | Donations accepted (excl. public funds) | Public funds accepted | Total accepted in this quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance Party of Northern Ireland - Alliance | £58,659 | £16,500 | £42,159 | £58,659 |
| Conservative and Unionist Party (NI) | £10,387 | £10,387 | £0 | £10,387 |
| Democratic Unionist Party - DUP | £92,317 | £0 | £92,317 | £92,317 |
| Social Democratic & Labour Party - SDLP | £79,869 | £17,500 | £62,369 | £79,869 |
| Sinn Féin | £144,888 | £52,398 | £92,490 | £144,888 |
| Traditional Unionist Voice - TUV | £4,513 | £0 | £4,513 | £4,513 |
| Ulster Unionist Party - UUP | £22,221 | £0 | £22,221 | £22,221 |
| Total | £412,853 | £96,784 | £316,069 | £412,853 |
Since 1 January 2024, the threshold for reporting donations to the Commission increased. Following a change in law by the UK Government, parties are required to report donations over £11,180 (and over £2,230 for accounting units).
The value of donations reported by a political party to the Commission may be different to the value of donations it actually accepted in that quarter. This can be due to aggregated donations, impermissible donations, and/or late reported donations.
Further information
We have also published the donations and loans for parties across the United Kingdom today.
Full details of donations and public funds for political parties in Northern Ireland are available on our political finance register, as are details for political parties in Great Britain.
Ends
For more information contact the Electoral Commission press office on 028 90 894 032, out of office hours 07789 920 414 or [email protected]
Notes to editors
1. Pre-poll donations published before the general election covered donations received by parties from 30 May to 4 July.
2. Political parties are required to submit quarterly donation and loan returns to the Electoral Commission. Within these returns, parties report:
- donations accepted above the £11,180 threshold (£2,230 for accounting units)
- smaller donations from a single donor which exceed the reporting threshold when taken together
- impermissible donations they have received and action taken by the party in relation to these
- donations which ought to have been reported in previous quarters
3. The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) requires registered parties to report cash and non-cash donations and borrowing to the Electoral Commission on a quarterly basis. Political parties must report all donations and borrowing over £11,180 relating to the central party, or over £2,230 relating to an accounting unit. This includes aggregates of donations and loans from the same source during the calendar year. Once the central party has reported a donation or aggregate donation over £11,180 it must report each subsequent donation of more than £2,230 from that source.
4. As parties only report donations and loans over these thresholds, the figures do not include all donations and loans to political parties. Donations and loans under these thresholds are recorded in political parties’ annual statements of accounts.
5. Public funds are donations from the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Electoral Commission. ‘Short’ and ‘Cranborne’ grants are available to parties in opposition in the House of Commons or House of Lords respectively.
6. Public funds are donations from the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament and the Electoral Commission. ‘Short’ and ‘Cranborne’ grants are available to parties in opposition in the House of Commons or House of Lords respectively.
7. There were 31 registered political parties in Northern Ireland during quarter three 2024. Nine were required to submit a quarterly donation report and three to submit borrowing information within the deadline. The remaining political parties have previously submitted four consecutive nil returns. Providing they have not received donations in the last quarter, they are exempt from submitting a report.