Non-party campaigners: UK Parliamentary general elections
Overview of the non-party campaigner requirements
The following table provides an overview of the responsibilities of non-party campaigners according to the amount they intend to spend on regulated campaign activities.
Your regulated spending total includes all of your regulated spending. This includes:
- spending paid by you
- the value of something that is provided for use in your campaign (notional spending)
- spending by your joint campaign partners when you campaign together with others in certain arrangements (joint campaigning)
- spending encouraging voters to support a single political party or any of its candidates (targeted spending)
For all non-party campaigners, you must follow the laws about including imprints on election material. These apply whenever certain election material is produced, regardless of how much you spend or whether you are registered with the Electoral Commission.
| How much do you plan to spend on regulated campaigning during the regulated period? | Are you eligible to spend this amount? | Are you required to submit a notification before spending this amount? | Reporting requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £700 | Anyone can spend up to £700 on regulated campaign activities | No | None. You must still follow the laws on including imprints on election material |
| Between £700 and £10,000 across the UK | Only certain individuals and organisations can spend more than £700 on regulated campaign activities Please see Spending more than £700 on regulated campaign activities for the full list of eligible individuals and organisations | No | None. You must still follow the laws on including imprints on election material |
| More than £10,000 across the UK, but up to the ‘UKPGE reporting threshold’ (£20,000 in England, or £10,000 in any of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) | Only if you have a notification in force. We call non-party campaigners with a notification registered non-party campaigners Please see Who can submit a notification? for the list of individuals and organisations eligible to submit a notification If you are not planning to spend above the UKPGE reporting threshold, you can declare this in your notification | Yes | If you make a reporting threshold declaration, and your spending remains below the reporting threshold, you will be exempt from reporting. You must still follow the laws on including imprints on election material |
| If you do not make a reporting threshold declaration, and your spending remains below the reporting threshold, you will be required to submit pre-poll donation reports. You must also follow the laws on including imprints on election material | |||
| More than the UKPGE reporting threshold (£20,000 in England or £10,000 in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland) | Only if you have a notification in force. We call non-party campaigners with a notification registered non-party campaigners Please see Who can submit a notification? for the list of individuals and organisations eligible to submit a notification | Yes You will have a total amount you can spend during the regulated period as a registered non-party campaigner based on a calculation in the law Please see Spending limits for more information |
|
As well as the above spending limits and reporting requirements, there is a limit on the amount you can spend in a constituency.1 It is an offence to spend more than £17,553 in a constituency.2
If you are a registered non-party campaigner and you exceed the constituency spending limit, you will be required to submit pre-poll donation reports and a spending and donation report after the election.3 If you are not a registered non-party campaigner, there are no reporting requirements as these will only apply after registration.
- 1. Schedule 10, paragraph 3(2A) Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) ↩ Back to content at footnote 1
- 2. S.94(2) PPERA ↩ Back to content at footnote 2
- 3. S.96(1)(b) PPERA ↩ Back to content at footnote 3