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