Consultation on Code of Practice for non-party campaigners in Scotland

Summary

Some individuals and organisations that are not political parties campaign on issues or causes around elections without standing candidates themselves. They play a significant role in providing voters with information and a diversity of voices.

The Commission calls these individuals and organisations non-party campaigners. In electoral law they are called third parties.

As you will be aware, the Elections Act 2022 introduced new requirements for registration and spending by non-party campaigners. The Act also created a duty on the Electoral Commission to produce a Code of Practice on the laws relating to non-party campaigner spending, including what qualifies as expenses, reporting controlled expenditure and donations, and joint campaigning. This Code applied to elections to the UK Parliament and to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

As a result, the Scottish Government has introduced new legislation in The Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 which includes a duty on the Electoral Commission to produce a similar Code of Practice on the laws relating to non-party campaigners for general elections to the Scottish Parliament.

Where possible, we have attempted to keep the Code for Scottish Parliamentary elections and the corresponding UK Code as similar as possible, to ensure a level of consistency across elections, and to avoid confusion for those who must follow the law. There will however be some differences in the Scottish Code, due to differences in the law that has been passed by the relevant legislatures.

The Code, once prepared, will be presented to Scottish Ministers. The Ministers may then modify it, before laying it for parliamentary approval.

Your views will help us make the Code as clear and helpful as possible.

The Commission must have regard to this Code when exercising its functions under Part 6 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA). It is a defence for a non-party campaigner to show that they complied with this Code in determining whether their campaign activity was regulated.

How to respond

The consultation is open from 27 March 2025.

You can respond by:

The Electoral Commission

City Chambers

High Street

Edinburgh

EH1 1YJ

Throughout the consultation period, we will continue to engage with the campaigning community. We are happy to meet with any groups or interested individuals on request.

If you have any questions, please do get in touch on 0207 271 0527.

The consultation deadline has been extended, and will now close on 13 June.

Questionnaire

Purpose test

Spending on campaign activities by non-party campaigners is only regulated if it can reasonably be regarded as intended to promote or procure the electoral success of:
  • one or more political parties
  • political parties or candidates who support or do not support particular policies or
  • another particular category of candidates
by influencing voters at an upcoming election to vote in a particular way. This is commonly known as the ‘purpose test’.
Is the draft Code helpful in explaining what is meant by the ‘purpose test’?
Does the draft Code effectively explain what factors will help determine whether an activity can be ‘reasonably regarded’ as regulated expenditure?
Is the information included on how the purpose test applies for a retrospective regulated period clear?
Is there any other information we can include that would support your understanding?

Public activities and material not publicly available

Election material that meets the purpose test and takes place during a regulated period will only be regarded as regulated campaign activity if the material is made available to the public, or a section of the public. This is commonly known as the public test. 

Whether the material is made publicly available is determined by who has access to that material. 

Where access to election material is limited in such a way that the general public would not be able to access that material, this is not regulated campaign activity.
Does the draft Code effectively explain what is meant by ‘material not publicly available’?
Is the draft Code helpful in explaining how to determine whether non-party campaigner activities or material are available to the public?
Does the information support you to understand how to determine whether material is available to the public when the material is digital campaigning/online material?

Notification and reporting thresholds

Certain UK-based individuals and organisations are eligible to submit a notification to the Commission. An eligible non-party campaigner may spend up to £10,000 on regulated activity in Scotland without notifying the Commission. If the campaigner intends to spend over £10,000, they must submit a notification.

Registered non-party campaigners who spend more than £10,000 in Scotland must record and report their spending and donations.

If a campaigner is not eligible to submit a notification, they must not spend over £700 on regulated activities.

Does the draft Code effectively explain what is meant by ‘notification thresholds’?
Does the draft Code effectively explain what is meant by ‘reporting thresholds’?
Since these two thresholds are the same for Scottish Parliamentary elections, in the non-statutory guidance we propose to only use one term. Do you agree with this approach?
Does the draft Code effectively explain the £700 spending limit?
Does the draft Code effectively explain who is eligible to submit a notification?
Is there any other information we can include that would support your understanding?

What type of spending is controlled expenditure

Controlled expenditure is any spending incurred in respect of regulated campaign activity. 

Schedule 8A PPERA sets out the list of qualifying expenses that fall within, and outside, the regulatory regime.
Is the draft Code helpful in explaining what types of campaign spending and activity must be reported?
Does the information included support you to understand how to assess, calculate and account for your spending?
When considering qualifying expenses, are there any other items we can include that would support your understanding?

Joint campaigning

Non-party campaigners may decide to work together on a campaign. This is called ‘joint campaigning’ The rules on joint campaigning apply to registered and un-registered non-party campaigners. 

A non-party campaigner takes part in joint campaigning where they:
  • enter into a plan or other arrangement with one or more other non-party campaigners
  • all non-party campaigners involved intend to incur controlled expenditure in pursuance of that plan or arrangement 
  • one or more of the non-party campaigners involved incurs controlled expenditure in pursuance of the plan or arrangement and 
  • that plan or arrangement can reasonably be regarded as intending to achieve a common purpose.  
All of the spending on the joint campaign counts towards the spending limit of each of the non-party campaigners involved in the joint campaign.
Is the draft Code helpful in explaining what is meant by ‘joint campaigning’?
Does the draft Code support you to understand what factors you should take into account when considering whether activity is joint campaigning?
Are the examples we have included clear and are there any other types of examples that would support your understanding?

General questions

Are there any specific parts of the draft Code that you would like to see expanded upon in greater detail in our non-statutory guidance for non-party campaigners?
Would you be willing to provide us with any examples of your experiences as a campaigner that we could expand into examples or case studies in our guidance? All information provided would be treated in confidence and non-attributable.

About you

Are you replying to this consultation as/on behalf of a:

Your contact details (optional):

Please provide your name and email address if you are happy to do so. We may use these contact details to follow up with you regarding your consultation response.

Background

Who we are

The Electoral Commission is the independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance in the UK. We work to promote public confidence in the democratic process and ensure its integrity.

We support candidates, parties and campaigners by providing comprehensive guidance and resources to help them understand what they should be doing to comply with the law, and that enables them to focus their efforts on engaging with voters.

You can find out more about our role and responsibilities on our website.