Representation of the People Bill: Report Stage briefing on amendments on donations from overseas contributors

This briefing highlights key considerations and background on recently tabled amendments to the Representation of the People Bill that introduce a cap of £100,000 for donations from overseas contributors per year.

A cap on the amount overseas contributors can donate will address the two issues identified as risks in the Rycroft Review – the traceability of the sources of funds from overseas contributors, and the perception of democratic fairness.  

However, these amendments introduce complex new rules. Campaigners and potential donors must be able to understand and comply with these new requirements. Given the complexity of the proposals, the Government should consult with a range of stakeholders who will be impacted by these changes.  

There are also practical challenges to the implementation and enforcement of these amendments. These include how donees will be able to confidently and accurately identify the total donations an overseas donor has made in a year, the process for returning such donations if a donor breaches the annual cap, and issues around access to the electoral register.

Currently individuals living overseas but registered on the electoral register can donate to political parties, their candidates and other regulated entities. Like other permissible donors, there are no limits in law on how much they can donate.

This clause would introduce a cap for donations by overseas contributors of £100,000 per year. Donations from overseas contributors who have exceeded the £100,000 limit would be deemed impermissible.

Philip Rycroft, in his review of foreign interference in UK politics, deemed these donations to be higher risk, namely in relation to the traceability of funds associated with these types of donations, as well as to the perception of democratic fairness in respect of donations by those based abroad. As Rycroft sets out, the former will be especially key when the new ‘Know Your Donor’ risk assessments for parties and regulated entities are introduced.

The introduction of a minimum residency period

This clause would introduce a minimum residency period for overseas contributors returning to the UK of one calendar year. In practical terms this would mean that an overseas donor who has returned to the UK from the 25 March 2026 onwards will be subject to the £100,000 per year limit until January 2028, where the period January 2027- December 2027 is one, full, calendar year.  

This is a significant new policy addition, which would introduce further complexity for donors and campaigners. Any new proposal would have to be verifiable, and cohesive with existing legal obligations on donees such as their duty to take all reasonable steps to assure themselves donations are permissible. We will continue to analyse the practical implications of this change to ensure we can provide advice and guidance to support donors and campaigners to comply with these requirements on commencement.

Declarations by overseas contributors

There is currently no requirement for donors to complete any declaration with their donation, although there are uncommenced provisions for declarations under section 54A of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Commission supports commencement of this provision.

In implementing a limit on donations from overseas contributors, there are practical considerations as to how to identify overseas contributors and track their donation totals over several, different recipients. Under NC116, donors will be asked to list and state the value of previous donations and transactions in the calendar year, as well as if these were accepted or refused. The donor must also make a statement that the aggregate amount of the donations do not exceed £100,000.  

As drafted, these declarations will only need to be retained for 12 months and there are no sanctions associated with a failure to retain the declaration. This is much shorter than a party's duty to keep accounting records for 6 years under s.41 PPERA. However, in the Government’s response to the Rycroft Review, they state that another donor declaration will be required for donations over a certain threshold.

Along with the proposed commencement of the s54A declaration, we urge the need for alignment and coherence across how these various declarations interact. We stand ready to work with the Government on ensuring that donors and donees are clear of the expectations placed on them.

Acceptance or return of donations

Because there are currently no donation caps in electoral law, there is no standard process for the return of impermissible donations that exceed the limit.  

This clause outlines that when donations exceed the £100,000 cap either outright or when aggregated with other donations and regulated transactions in the same calendar year, they must be returned within 30 days. However, it could be further improved by providing greater clarity to the regulated entities who will have to adhere to these rules. This will ensure that accidental rule breaking is avoided.  

For example, as currently drafted, it does not appear to address a scenario whereby donations are given to multiple recipients simultaneously - for example, if a donation of £40,000 is given to three different, unrelated donees on the same day. This would take the donor over the £100,000 cap. However, it is unclear which donee is responsible for returning the amount above the £100,000 and whether they should   return the whole donation.

Transitional arrangements

These amendments introduce transitional arrangements which, if the legislation is passed, will start from two different dates and apply until the commencement date of the provisions. The first start date is the 25 March 2026. From this date the cap on overseas contributors will apply and will also apply to anyone who has moved back to the UK since the 25 March 2026. From the 6 July 2026, transitional arrangements for individuals who were not registered as an overseas elector when living outside the UK will apply.

The donation limit introduced from the 6 July 2026 will operate differently to the first set of provisions. It will be an annual limit of £100k per recipient of a donation, rather than a £100k cap across all donations.  

Together these proposals have the potential to create a complicated regime. Campaigners and potential donors must be able to understand and comply with these new requirements. We will continue to work with Government and stakeholders to understand how these clauses will work in practice and provide advice and guidance to support the legislation coming into force. Given the complexity of the requirements, the Government should consult with a range of diverse stakeholders who will be impacted by these changes.

Guidance

Following the Government's announcement, we have published advice for parties, candidates and campaigners on the proposed changes to the law. Our guidance can only reflect what is in legislation, and so will be updated to support the legislation coming into force.  

Our advice sets out actions that the regulated community may wish to consider taking so that they are prepared for any future changes to the law. We are continuing to work to understand how this cap will be implemented and retrospectively applied, so that donors and donees can have certainty about their obligations and clarity about how the measure will be enforced once the legislation is in place.  

As noted above there are practical considerations with how regulated entities can identify overseas contributors. This is of particular concern for retrospective checking using the electoral register, as access to records may not be consistent across all local authorities.