Latest figures for political party donations and loans published

30 Nov 2018 02:13 PM

Political parties registered in Great Britain and Northern Ireland reported a total of £8,541,092 in donations between 1 July and 30 September 2018, according to new figures published yesterday by the Electoral Commission.

In Great Britain, 12 political parties reported accepting a total of £8,470,582 in donations in this period. This is almost the same amount reported in the previous quarter, between 1 April and 30 June 2018 (£8,405,500).

The 12 political parties to report donations were:

Party Donations excluding public funds Public funds Total accepted in quarter 3 2018
British National Party £9,876 - £9,876
Conservative and Unionist Party £4,574,861 £121,042 £4,695,903
Co-operative Party £317,800 - £317,800
Green Party £8,875 £27,611 £36,486
Labour Party £2,037,403 £2,157,392 £4,194,794
Liberal Democrats £822,230 £248,298 £1,070,528
Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales £410,000 £24,928 £434,928
Renew £45,000 - £45,000
Scottish National Party (SNP) £153,045 £192,928 £345,902
Scottish Socialist Party £34,492 - £34,492
UK Independence Party (UKIP) £52,000 - £52,000
Women's Equality Party £5,000 - £5,000


In addition to these donations, during the third quarter of 2018 six parties accepted a total of more than £2.7 million public funds. This can be seen on the summary page.

The totals published yesterday and set out above represent the sum of those donations large enough to be above the reporting thresholds. Parties will likely have received other donations from different individuals or bodies that are below the thresholds for reporting to the Commission. Taken as a total sum these can amount to substantive sources of income for parties.

Seventeen 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.

Borrowing

The value of outstanding loans to political parties in Great Britain as of 30 September 2018 stood at just over £3.5 million, which is an decrease of almost £300,000 compared with 30 June 2018 (£3.8 million). This decrease follows an audit of the Transaction (Loan) register for political parties.

The Commission found a number of parties had failed to report correctly changes to loans which occurred in previous quarters. In total, these late reports totalled almost £390,000. The failure by these parties to report changes to loans is now being considered in line with the Commission’s Enforcement Policy.

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

‘Publishing data about party donations and loans on our online database means voters can clearly see where political parties receive their funds from. This leads to a more trusted and transparent political finance system and helps ensure compliance.

‘Where parties fail to deliver their return on time, and 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

View a summary of donations reported by GB parties in the third quarter of 2018, including the highest donors and details of late reports.

For information on donations reported by political parties in Northern Ireland, see our press release.

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

For more information contact the Electoral Commission press office on 020 7271 0704, out of office hours 07789 920 414 or press@electoralcommission.org.uk

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:

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. There were 339 registered political parties in Great Britain during quarter three 2018. 70 were required to submit a quarterly donation report and 63 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.
  6. The figures reported for quarterly donations and borrowing have been rounded. View the exact figures.