Financial accounts for larger political parties in Great Britain published

8 Aug 2019 11:16 AM

Financial accounts of political parties and their accounting units in Great Britain, with income or expenditure of more than £250,000, have been published today by the Electoral Commission. The accounts are for the year ending 31 December 2018.

Party income and expenditure

11 parties in Great Britain reported having an income or expenditure of more than £250,000. In total, these parties reported £97,834,448 of income and £99,394,478 of expenditure. This compares with 10 parties in 2017 reporting £123,322,064 of income and £122,193,805 of expenditure.

Party	Income	Expenditure
Labour Party	£45,667,000	£46,322,000
Conservative and Unionist Party	£34,270,000	£36,378,000
Liberal Democrats	£6,202,599	£6,537,508
Scottish National Party (SNP)	£4,748,450	£3,629,097
Green Party	£1,994,824	£2,226,708
UK Independence Party (UKIP)	£1,516,773	£907,929
Co-operative Party	£1,191,694	£1,158,875
Women’s Equality Party	£943,067	£963,333
Plaid Cymru	£692,750	£731,398
Scottish Green Party	£353,373	£314,954
The For Britain Movement	£253,918	£224,676

The full financial accounts for each of the 11 political parties are available on the Commission’s website (Opens in new window), alongsidethe financial accounts for four political parties in Northern Ireland (Opens in new window) with income and expenditure of more than £250,000.

Accounting unit income and expenditure

Political parties may register 'accounting units’ with the Electoral Commission. These are constituent or affiliated units of a political party, including constituency parties, which have separate finances from the main party.

Eight accounting units in Great Britain reported income or expenditure of more than £250,000. In total, these accounting units reported £7,817,828 income and £7,334,168 expenditure.

Comparisons with totals in previous years

Figures comparing these latest financial accounts for political parties and their accounting units with those for 2017 and 2016 are below.

Political parties

For further information please contact the press office on 020 7271 0704 or email press@electoralcommission.org.uk. For outside office hours call 07789 920414.

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, focusing 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

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

3. Financial accounts of political parties and their accounting units in Northern Ireland, with income and expenditure of more than £250,000, have been published today. The press release has also been published today. 

4. The fact that a Statement of Accounts has been placed on the Commission’s website should not be taken to indicate that the Electoral Commission has verified or validated it in any way.

5. Figures for income and expenditure have been rounded. Please see our online database for exact amounts (Opens in new window).

6. Details of how failures to submit Statement of Accounts by the deadline have been dealt with in the past can be found in our publication of closed cases.

7. Financial details of parties and accounting units with an income or expenditure under £250,000 in 2018 were published last month and are available on our website.