Financial accounts for smaller political parties published
5 Jul 2019 11:37 AM
Financial accounts of political parties and their accounting units in Great Britain, with income and expenditure of £250,000 or less, have been published by the Electoral Commission. The accounts are for the year ending 31 December 2018.
Party income and expenditure
Financial accounts of 277 political parties in Great Britain are reported as being within this threshold. Five parties reported income or expenditure between £50,000 and £250,000:
Party
|
Income
|
Expenditure
|
British National Party
|
£152,280
|
£142,692
|
Communist Party of Britain
|
£151,045
|
£123,546
|
Upminster and Cranham Residents Association
|
£95,758
|
£74,877
|
Scottish Socialist Party
|
£77,081
|
£38,074
|
The Socialist Party of Great Britain
|
£40,948
|
£199,271
|
The full financial accounts for each of the 277 political parties are available on the Commission’s website, alongside the financial accounts for 27 political parties in Northern Ireland with income and expenditure of £250,000 or less.
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.
393 accounting units in Great Britain reported income and expenditure between £25,000 and £250,000. In total, these accounting units reported £21,077,215 income and £20,744,562 expenditure.
The ten accounting units with an income over £150,000 are listed below. A further 24 reported income between £100,000 and £150,000.
Party
|
Accounting unit
|
Income
|
Expenditure
|
Conservative and Unionist Party
|
Kensington
|
£233,148
|
£231,395
|
Labour Party
|
National Trade Union Liaison
|
£228,590
|
£197,787
|
Conservative and Unionist Party
|
Aylesbury
|
£226,807
|
£159,550
|
Liberal Democrats
|
Westmorland and Lonsdale
|
£213,845
|
£224,621
|
Conservative and Unionist Party
|
Richmond Park
|
£181,865
|
£192,769
|
Liberal Democrats
|
Twickenham and Richmond
|
£175,472
|
£180,907
|
Liberal Democrats
|
Wales
|
£174,622
|
£143,842
|
Conservative and Unionist Party
|
Croydon Central
|
£171,572
|
£215,462
|
Liberal Democrats
|
Hazel Grove
|
£170,721
|
£141,214
|
Conservative and Unionist Party
|
Bristol North West
|
£153,273
|
£147,889
|
Full details of all accounting units’ accounts that were published are available on the Commission’s website, alongside details for Northern Ireland accounting units’ accounts.
Comparisons with 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
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
Income
|
£1,180,955
|
£1,195,733
|
£1,213,960
|
Expenditure
|
£1,138,149
|
£1,138,103
|
£1,249,577
|
Accounting units
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
Income
|
£21,762,856
|
£32,595,055
|
£21,077,215
|
Expenditure
|
£20,590,153
|
£29,849,412
|
£20,744,562
|
Late submissions
43 political parties in Great Britain failed to submit their accounts by their deadline of 30 April 2019. The Commission will review each of these reporting failures in line with its established Enforcement Policy.
Political parties and their accounting units with income or expenditure of more than £250,000 must submit their audited accounts by 7 July 2019. We expect to publish these in August 2019.
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
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regulating political finance – taking proactive steps to increase transparency, ensure compliance and pursue breaches
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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. Accounting units with income and expenditure that are either £25,000 or less are not required to submit their accounts.
3. Financial accounts of political parties and their accounting units in Northern Ireland, with income and expenditure of £250,000 or less, have been published. The press release has also been published
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.
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.