Financial accounts for smaller political parties in Northern Ireland published

31 Jul 2017 02:37 PM

Financial accounts of political parties and their accounting units in Northern Ireland, with income and expenditure of £250,000 or less, were published recently by the Electoral Commission. The accounts are for the year ending 31 December 2016.

Party income and expenditure

Twenty parties in Northern Ireland reported having gross income and total expenditure of £250,000 or less in 2016. The ten parties with the highest income are listed below.

Party	Income	Expenditure
Green Party	£64,675	£75,575
Socialist Party (Northern Ireland)	£60,998	£63,687
People Before Profit Alliance	£46,600	£43,428
The Workers Party	£38,500	£38,859
UK Independence Party (UKIP)	£37,971	£35,708
Progressive Unionist Party of Northern Ireland	£23,167	£16,460
Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee	£14,975	£10,648
Cross-Community Labour Alternative	£14,555	£14,211
Animal Welfare Party	£13,292	£14,060
Conservative and Unionist Party	£8,985	£9,991

In total, these parties reported £325,000 income and £323,000 expenditure. Compared to 2015, income decreased by about £225,000 and expenditure reduced by about £207,000 compared to 2015.

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, who have separate finances from the main party.

Six accounting units in Northern Ireland reported income or expenditure between £25,000 and £250,000.

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