Non-party campaigners: UK Parliamentary general elections

Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), there are limits on how much you can spend as a registered non-party campaigner during the regulated period for a UK Parliamentary general election (UKPGE).

There are limits on:

• spending on regulated campaigning activity in each part of the UK
• spending on regulated campaign activity in a particular parliamentary constituency

All regulated campaign spending must be attributed where it has an effect: to one or more parts of the UK and one or more constituencies. This means that all your spending will count towards a limit for a part of the UK and a constituency limit.

There is also a limit on spending on regulated campaign activity that can reasonably be regarded as intended to influence voters to vote for one particular registered political party or any of its candidates. This is called targeted spending.

The spending limits are as follows. Please note that we have rounded down these limits to the nearest pound for ease of use.

Limits on spending in each part of the UK

These limits are:1

Spending on UK-wide campaigns

The combined total of the spending limits for each part of the UK is £762,130. However, because of the way these spending limits work, the maximum you can spend on purely UK-wide campaigns is £702,130. Any further UK-wide spending or spending in England would take you over the spending limit for England. 

You can only reach the combined total of the spending limits for each part of the UK if you have separate campaigns in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland where no additional spending needs to be attributed to England.

If you are planning substantial UK-wide campaigns and additional campaigning activity in England, please contact us for advice on how to apply the attribution rules to your campaigns.

Limits on spending in each constituency

During the regulated period for a UKPGE, a non-party campaigner cannot spend more than £17,553 on regulated campaign activity in a particular parliamentary constituency.2  This limit applies to all non-party campaigners, before you submit a notification, and while you are registered.

It is an offence to spend more than £17,553 in a constituency during the regulated period.3  If you spend more than the constituency limit while registered, you will be required to submit pre-poll donation reports and report your spending and donations after the election.

Limits on targeted spending

If the registered political party which you want to influence people to vote for does not authorise you to incur an amount of targeted campaign spending, you may only spend up to the following amounts (‘targeted spending limits’) on regulated campaign activity targeting a particular party during the regulated period:4

Please see Targeted spending for more information.