We have reviewed our approach to sponsorship donations, following feedback from parties. This is our new guidance on sponsorship which will apply to sponsorship accepted from 1 January 2027 onwards.

For our current sponsorship guidance, please see the party donations and loans guidance:

New donations and loans guidance for political parties: Sponsorship

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Conference stands

Under the law, the Electoral Commission can set a maximum rate for the hire of exhibition stands at your party conferences. Hiring conference stands up to these rates will not count as sponsorship or any other type of donation.1 We have set maximum rates for physical conference stands and digital conference stands.

Physical conference stands

Payments of up to £15,000 (excluding VAT) for a 3m x 3m/9 square meter physical exhibition stand at your conferences will not be sponsorship or any other type of donation. The maximum rate that that can therefore be charged is effectively £1,666.67 per square meter.

If you are hiring out larger stands, you can charge more than £15,000, provided this is charged on a pro-rata basis. You do not need to charge on a pro-rata basis if you are hiring out smaller stands, provided the price you set is equal or less than the rate we have set.

For example, Party A has a 5m x 5m/25 square meter exhibition stand at its party’s conference. It calculates the maximum price that can be set for this size stand to remain exempt from the donation controls:

£15,000/9 square meters = £1,666.67

£1,666.67 x 25 square meters = £41,666.75.

A payment of up to £41,666.75 (excluding VAT) for a 5m x 5m/25 square meter conference stand will not be a donation to the party.

Any amount you receive above this rate must be treated as sponsorship, and therefore as a donation to the party. This is because the exemption for conference stands only applies to payments made up to the maximum rate we set. You should not treat the entire payment as sponsorship.

If you charge a higher rate for physical stands, we expect you to keep sufficient records of the transaction, including the stand’s size, the price charged, and how you calculated the price. We may ask to see your record keeping for our assurance purposes.

For example, Party B hires out a 6m x 6m/36sqm exhibition stand at its party conference. The maximum price that can be set for this size stand to remain exempt from the donation controls is:

£1,666.67 x 36 square meters = £60,000.12.

Party B charges £62,500 (excluding VAT) for the conference stand. The party must treat the £2,499.88 as sponsorship.

Digital conference stands

If a political party hosts a digital conference and makes available live promotional space on the online platform it is using, it may be considered a digital conference stand.

To be a digital conference stand, the following features must be present:

the digital stand must be available for hire for the duration of the conference
there must be some level of real-time interaction between attendees and the exhibitor
it must be live
an advert or banner (or something similar) must be included on the conference website or hosting platform (an advert on a website without the other elements would not be a digital conference stand)

Payments of up to £7,000 (excluding VAT) for a digital stand do not need to be treated as sponsorship or any other type of donation.

Any amount you receive for a digital stand exceeding £7,000 (excluding VAT) must be treated as sponsorship, and therefore as a donation to the party. This is because the exemption for conference stands only applies to payments made up to the maximum rate we set. You should not treat the entire payment as sponsorship.

If you charge a higher price than £7,000 (excluding VAT) for a digital stand, we expect you to keep sufficient records to show this transaction. This includes details of the price you applied to it and how you calculated the price. We may ask to see your record keeping for our assurance purposes.

Last updated: 27 August 2026