Political parties report £12.5m donations and loans in Q2 2022

6 Sep 2022 09:58 AM

Political parties in Great Britain and Northern Ireland have reported accepting a total of £12,544,172 in donations and public funds in the second quarter of 2022 (April to June), according to figures published today by the Electoral Commission. The total is made up of donations to 21 parties, and compares to £12,046,046 reported in the same period in 2021.

Commenting on the information published today, Louise Edwards, the Electoral Commission’s Director of Regulation, said:

“We are committed to protecting and promoting a transparent political finance system for voters. Parties are legally required to check that donations they accept are from permissible sources and to report these to the Commission. We publish the details of these donations so that everyone can see how parties are funded.

“While these laws help voters to understand where political donations come from, reforms are needed to modernise and further safeguard the system. We have recommended for some time that the UK Government and Parliament work with us to improve controls that prevent foreign money being used in UK politics.”

Political parties are required to submit quarterly donation and loan returns to the Electoral Commission. Within these returns, parties report:

  • donations accepted above the £7,500 threshold (over £1,500 for accounting units)
  • smaller donations from a single donor which exceed the reporting threshold when taken together
  • impermissible donations they have received and the action taken in relation to these.

Parties can also report donations which should have been reported in previous quarters.

The political parties to report donations in quarter two of 2022, including public funds, were:

 

Party

Total reported

Donations accepted (excl. public funds)

Public funds accepted

Total accepted in this quarter

Alba Party

£158,961

£50,000

£108,961

£158,961

Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

£43,676

£25,000

£17,189

£42,189

Conservative and Unionist Party (GB)

£5,346,795

£4,760,071

£559,270

£5,319,341

Conservative and Unionist Party (NI)

£7,297

£7,297

£0

£7,297

Co-operative Party

£477,382

£469,882

£0

£469,882

Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.

£266,191

£33,250

£232,941

£266,191

Green Party (GB)

£214,678

£166,400

£46,778

£213,178

Labour Party

£3,847,555

£1,469,254

£2,336,119

£3,805,373

Liberal Democrats

£1,175,780

£774,696

£350,440

£1,125,136

People Before Profit Alliance

£10,800

£0

£5,554

£5,554

Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales

£168,887

£3,896

£164,991

£168,887

Reform UK

£20,000

£20,000

£0

£20,000

Scottish Green Party

£15,452

£9,786

£5,666

£15,452

Scottish National Party (SNP)

£383,589

£47,634

£332,955

£380,589

SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party)

£58,817

£7,260

£51,557

£58,817

Sinn Féin

£183,049

£100,000

£83,049

£183,049

The Reclaim Party

£250,000

£250,000

£0

£250,000

Traditional Unionist Voice - TUV

£13,708

£0

£6,869

£6,869

True & Fair Party

£16,000

£16,000

£0

£16,000

Ulster Unionist Party

£23,409

£0

£23,409

£23,409

Yorkshire Party

£7,998

£7,998

£0

£7,998

Total

£12,690,024

£8,218,424

£4,325,748

£12,544,172

 

The amount that a political party reports to the Commission may be different to the amount it accepts in a quarter. This is because the amount that a party reports can include donations that were returned because they were impermissible and/ or donations reported as part of the wrong quarter.

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 substantial sources of income for parties.

Eight parties failed to meet the reporting deadline for this quarter. The Commission will consider each of these matters, as well as donations reported late, in line with its Enforcement Policy, if appropriate. Any sanctions applied will be published at a later date.

Borrowing

There were £259,415 of new loans reported in the second quarter of 2022. Loans with a value of £163,000 were fully paid off.

Donations accepted by regulated donees in Q2 2022

The Commission also publishes details of donations accepted by regulated donees. Regulated donees are members of registered political parties, holders of relevant elective office and members associations.

In the second quarter of 2022, £546,816 in donations were accepted by 61 donees. The total includes cash and non-cash donations, as well as donations towards overseas visits. Full details of cash and non-cash donations (Opens in new window) are available on our website.

 
Type of regulated donnee Value of cash and non-cash donations accepted Value of donations accepted towards overseas visits  Total value of donations accepted
Mayor £84,716 £0 £84,716
Members Association £69,866 £0 £69,866
MP – Member of Parliament £273,068 £117,130 £390,198
Senedd Member £0 £2,037 £2,037
Total £427,650 £119,166 £546,816
 

Further information

summary of donations reported by parties, including the highest donors and details of late reports, is available on the Commission’s website.

Full details of donations and loans reported in Q2 2022 are available on our political finance register (Opens in new window).

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 (Opens in new window)

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.

The Commission was set up in 2000 and reports to the UK, Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

2. 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. Once the central party has reported a donation or aggregate donation over £7,500 it must report each subsequent donation of more than £1,500 from that source.

3. As 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 accounts. Information on the political parties’ most recent statements of accounts is available on the Commission’s database (Opens in new window).