WIREDGOV

Between Monday 13 April to Sunday 19 April almost £4.2 million (£4,188,479) in donations to four registered political parties in Great Britain were reported to the Electoral Commission as it releases the third of four weekly publications that will be published prior to the poll on 7 May. 

By law (The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000), political parties must submit weekly donation and loan reports to the Commission if they are standing candidates in the UK parliamentary election and they have received any donations or loans over £7,500.
Parties must notify the Commission if they are not standing candidates in order to be exempt from weekly reporting. 

The four political parties that have reported receiving donations over £7,500 were:

• Conservative Party – £1,083,479
• Labour Party – £1,530,000
• Liberal Democrats – £75,000
• United Kingdom Independence Party - £1,500,000

No loans over £7,500 were reported by any party.

The Conservative Party reported receiving £9,727 of public funds from the Scottish Parliament.

You can view details of all reportable donations to registered political parties in the third pre-poll period here:http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/186895/3rd-Weekly-Pre-poll-donations-and-loans-summary-document.pdf 

The total amount of donations reported by political parties in this third pre-poll report compares with £1.7 million reported in the second pre-poll report and £2.5 million in the first pre-poll report.

Non-party campaigners

Changes introduced by the Transparency of Lobbying, Non Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, mean registered non-party campaigners – individuals or organisations that campaign at elections, but are not standing as candidates or political parties – must also submit weekly pre-poll donation reports to the Commission if they have received any amounts above £7,500 to use for the purpose of their regulated campaign activity. 

The Commission has received two pre-poll reports from registered non-party campaigners. The Campaign for British Influence in Europe Limited reported receiving a donation of £50,000; and the Network for Animals Limited reported receiving a donation of £15,000.

To search donations on the Electoral Commission’s website, click here  

For further information contact:
Karim Aziz in the Electoral Commission press office on 020 7271 0704 orpress@electoralcommission.org.uk 
Out of office hours 07789 920 414

Notes to editors

1. The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. Our aim is integrity and public confidence in the UK’s democratic process. We regulate party and election finance and set standards for well-run elections and are responsible for the conduct and regulation of referendums held under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) 2000. 
2. There will be six weekly pre-poll donations and loans reports. Four pre-poll reports will be published before polling day (7 May). Two will be published after polling day.

3. Political parties accounting units are not required to submit pre poll donations and loans reports.
4. The first quarterly donations and loans to political parties (January – March 2015) will be published on 28 May 2015.
5. In the pre-poll weekly reports, political parties must report donations that they are given during the relevant period. However, under PPERA, parties have 30 days after receiving a donation to check that it is from a permissible source and to decide whether to accept it. If a party decides to return a donation, that will be recorded in Quarter 2 2015 donations and loans report which will be published by the Electoral Commission in August 2015.
6. Two hundred and nine parties were required to submit weekly reports to the Electoral Commission. As of 29 April, the Commission had received donation reports from 135 parties and borrowing reports from 124 parties, including ‘nil returns’. Where a political party has not submitted a donation or loan report, the Commission has contacted those parties that failed to submit a weekly report to establish their reasons for this. The Commission will consider what, if any, action is appropriate in each case and in accordance with its enforcement policy. 
7. Two political parties submitted exemptions from reporting to the Electoral Commission as they are not standing candidates at the 2015 General Election since the Commission published its first pre-poll donations report.
8. For more information about the rules for political parties during the General Election period, see the Commission’s media handbook here.
9. Registered non-party campaigners do not need to submit a ‘nil return’ to the Electoral Commission during the General Election campaign period.
10. To see which non-party campaigners have so far registered with the Electoral Commission, click here