Electoral Commission
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Latest figures for GB political party donations and loans published

Twelve political parties registered in Great Britain reported accepting a total of more than £6.5 million in donations between 1 October and 31 December 2017, according to new figures published yesterday by the Electoral Commission.

This quarter saw almost £2.6 million less reported donations when compared to the same quarter in 2015 (£9.2 million), the last year a Parliamentary general election was held; and £1.1 million less when compared to the same quarter in 2016 (£7.7 million)

In sum, political parties in Great Britain received a total of £62.3 million in 2017, discounting public funds. This is an almost £4 million decrease from 2015 (£67.3 million excluding public funds) when the last Parliamentary general election was held.

The six political parties to report the most in donations were:

  • Conservative  and Unionist Party

£2,943,356

  • Labour Party

£2,059,131

  • Liberal   Democrats

£563,489

  • Co-operative   Party

£326,592

  • Scottish   National Party (SNP)

£222,973

  • UK   Independence Party (UKIP)

£203,650

In addition to these donations, during the fourth quarter of 2017 five parties accepted a total of more than £2.5m from public funds – money and assistance allocated to parliamentary opposition parties to assist with costs.

The value of outstanding loans to political parties as of 31 December 2017 stood at £3,497,076, which is a decrease of £555,000 compared with 31 December 2016 (£4,052,498).

Twelve parties failed to meet the deadline for reporting for this quarter. The Commission will consider each of these matters in line with its enforcement policy, which is available to view here.

Bob Posner, Director of Political Finance and Regulation & Legal Counsel at the Electoral Commission, said:

“This data is hugely important in ensuring that our political finance system is as transparent as possible across the whole of the UK, particularly with parties receiving the significant sums they did in 2017. It’s always disappointing when parties fail to deliver their return on time. Where there is no reasonable explanation for such a failure we will take a robust approach in dealing with this in line with our Enforcement Policy.”

Further information

A summary of donations reported in the fourth quarter of 2017, including the highest donors, is available here.

Full details of donations and loans are available on our registers here.

Full analysis and breakdown of the figures for quarter four 2017 is available on our website here.

We continue to be unable to publish information on donations in Northern Ireland. However we expect to publish donations data for quarter 3 and quarter 4 2017 following the passage of the Transparency of Donations and Loans etc. (Northern Ireland Political Parties) Order 2018. For more information see our statement here.

For further information please the Electoral Commission press office on 020 7271 0704 or email press@electoralcommission.org.uk.

For further information on transparency in Northern Ireland please contact Cahir Hughes on 028 9089 4023.

For out of hours queries, please call 07789 920 414.

Notes to editors

1. The Electoral Commission is the independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance in the UK. We work to promote public confidence in the democratic process and ensure its integrity by:

  • enabling the delivery of free and fair elections and referendums, focussing on the needs of electors and addressing the changing environment to ensure every vote remains secure and accessible
  • regulating political finance – taking proactive steps to increase transparency, ensure compliance and pursue breaches
  • using our expertise to make and advocate for changes to our democracy, aiming to improve fairness, transparency and efficiency

The Commission was set up in 2000 and reports to the UK and Scottish Parliaments.

2. The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) requires registered parties to report cash and non-cash donations and borrowing to the Electoral Commission on a quarterly basis. Political parties must report all donations and borrowing over £7,500 relating to the central party, or over £1,500 relating to an accounting unit. This includes aggregates of donations and loans from the same source during the calendar year.

3. As the parties only report donations and loans over these thresholds, the figures do not include all donations and loans to political parties. Donations and loans under these thresholds are recorded in political parties’ annual Statements of Accounts. To view these accounts, visit our register here.

4. Public funds are donations from the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament and the Electoral Commission. ‘Short’ and ‘Cranborne’ grants are available to parties in opposition in the House of Commons or House of Lords respectively.

5. Some donations appear on the register as being from the Electoral Commission. These are Policy Development Grants, which were established by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 for parties represented in the Commons by two or more sitting members. The grants are intended to assist parties in developing the policies that they will present in an election manifesto. The legislation provides the total sum of £2 million annually for this purpose. Policy Development Grants became reportable as donations for the first time in quarter three of 2006 as a result of the Electoral Administration Act 2006.

6. There were 384 registered political parties in Great Britain during quarter four 2017. 67 were required to submit a quarterly donation report and 61 to submit borrowing information within the deadline. The remaining political parties were exempt (unless they received donations) because they have previously submitted four consecutive nil returns.

7. The figures reported for quarterly donations and borrowing have been rounded. The exact figures are available on our website here.

Channel website: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk

Original article link: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/journalist/electoral-commission-media-centre/news-releases-donations/latest-figures-for-gb-political-party-donations-and-loans-published

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