Senedd election 2026: Party spending

Activities not included in campaign spending are:

• local newsletters about elected representatives or prospective candidates1
• material sent only to your members2
• expenses met out of public funds. For example, financial assistance provided by the Access to Elected Office Fund Wales to support disabled candidates, or security costs for VIP visits3
• reasonable costs relating to a party list candidate’s disability4
• permanent, fixed term or temporary staff costs where the staff member has a direct employment contract with the party5
• reasonable expenses attributable to the protection of people or property, for example hiring security, using a PO Box to avoid publicising a home or office address on imprints, or purchasing antivirus software for protecting campaign computers6
• costs associated with translating anything from English into Welsh or from Welsh into English7
• volunteer time8
• people’s travel, food and accommodation costs while they campaign, unless you reimburse them9
• office running costs, except costs that are higher than usual because of campaigning, such as telephone bills
• party conferences10
• anything which a candidate properly declares on their spending return11
• anything which a registered recall petition campaigner properly declares on their spending return12
• party list candidates’ deposits
• postage costs relating to the free election address promoting the party or party list candidates

Volunteer time

Sometimes you may not be sure if someone is a volunteer or if their time should be treated as notional spending. For example, they may offer similar services professionally to the ones they are performing for you.

They will be a volunteer if:

• their employer is not paying them for the time they spend on your campaign, or
• they are using their annual leave, or
• where they are self-employed, you won’t benefit from any professional insurances they hold

If they use specialist equipment or materials, you should consider whether their use is notional spending.