Non-party campaigners: UK Parliamentary general elections

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Reporting thresholds

Registered non-party campaigners who spend more than:

  • £20,000 in England, or
  • £10,000 in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland

must record and report their spending and donations.1  These are known as the reporting thresholds. They are defined as the ‘lower tier spending limits’ in PPERA.

Notifying the Commission

All non-party campaigners who submit a notification to the Commission are subject to the reporting requirements when their spending meets the reporting thresholds.

Non-party campaigners that meet the notification threshold but do not intend to spend more than the reporting thresholds, may, at the time of notification, submit a declaration to that effect.2

If no statement is made by the non-party campaigner at the time of notification, the non-party campaigner will be subject to the reporting requirements if they meet the reporting thresholds.3

Non-party campaigners taking part in a joint campaign may meet the reporting thresholds as a result of the rules on joint campaigning, without incurring spending directly themselves. See section on joint campaigning.

Non-party campaigners without the reporting threshold declaration

As a registered non-party campaigner, you can only accept donations over £500 from permissible sources and you are required to submit reports of your donations in the lead up to the election (pre-poll reporting). These donation requirements apply regardless of the amount you spend.

In addition, if you meet the reporting threshold in any part of the UK, you will be required to submit spending and donations after the election.

If your spending does not meet the reporting threshold in any part of the UK, you will be exempt from reporting spending and donations after the election. However, as a registered non-party campaigner, you will still be required to submit donation reports to us in the lead up to the election.

Non-party campaigners who have declared they intend to remain below the reporting thresholds

Registered non-party campaigners who include a declaration that they do not intend to spend more than the reporting thresholds are not required to report their spending or donations as long as their spending does not exceed the reporting thresholds. They are still subject to the law on permissibility of donations.

You will not need to report any spending or donations to us either in the pre-poll period or after the election, if both:

  • you declare you intend to remain below the UK Parliamentary general election (UKPGE) reporting thresholds in your notification
  • your spending remains below the reporting thresholds

You must still comply with the laws on donations and only accept donations over £500 from permissible sources, even if you are not required to report to us.

Your declaration will only remain in place if your spending remains below the reporting thresholds. If you spend over the reporting thresholds, you will no longer be exempt from the reporting requirements and must report your spending and donations to us. It is also an offence to spend over the reporting thresholds with the declaration in place.4

Removing the reporting threshold limitation

Once a non-party campaigner is registered, they may withdraw their statement that they do not intend to spend more than the reporting thresholds if their spending intentions change following registration.5

It is an offence to incur controlled expenditure in excess of the reporting thresholds if the non-party campaigner has notified the Commission that they would not spend more than those limits.6  Any non-party campaigner doing so would also become subject to the reporting requirements.7

If you wish to amend your notification to remove the spending limitation, you can amend your register entry at any time by submitting Form TP2.8  Your amendment must be in effect before you spend over the reporting thresholds.

We will inform you in writing when your notification has been amended.

TP2 - Notification of change of details of a non-party campaigner (PDF)
Last updated: 19 December 2023