UK political parties’ accounts published

24 Aug 2023 12:19 PM

The financial accounts of political parties and accounting units with income or expenditure over £250,000 have been published today by the Electoral Commission. The accounts of 18 political parties and twelve accounting units in the United Kingdom have been published for the year ending 31 December 2022.

Louise Edwards, Director of Regulation and Digital Transformation at the Electoral Commission, said:

“We are committed to making sure political funding is transparent. Larger parties spend and receive considerable sums of money so it’s important that information on their finances is accessible to the public. Publishing their accounts allows voters to see how parties are funded and choose to spend their money.”

Party income or expenditure over £250,000

19 parties in the UK reported having an income or expenditure of more than £250,000. We are publishing the accounts of 18 parties today, having agreed an extended deadline for Britain First. The Ulster Unionist Party was granted an extension, and we received their accounts by the deadline of 22 August.

In total, these 18 parties reported £99,993,948 of income and £101,686,906 of expenditure. This compares with 19 parties that reported income or expenditure of over £250,000 in 2021, reporting totals of £101,162,626 of income and £107,657,216 of expenditure.

 
Party Income Expenditure
Alba Party £480,056 £462,631
Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland £522,368 £545,477
Conservative and Unionist Party £30,682,000 £33,062,000
Co-operative Party £1,404,712 £1,385,042
Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P. £426,175 £487,968
Green Party £3,146,966 £3,226,391
Labour Party £47,171,000 £44,450,000
Liberal Democrats £5,945,228 £6,699,016
Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales £970,293 £942,273
Reform UK £692,434 £949,028
Scottish Green Party £566,443 £594,634
Scottish National Party (SNP) £4,248,625 £5,052,903
SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party) £423,786 £395,644
Sinn Féin £1,186,378 £1,533,335
The Reclaim Party £716,084 £719,072
The Socialist Party of Great Britian £463,849 £114,055
Ulster Unionist Party £234,161 £399,622
Women's Equality Party £713,390 £667,815
Total £99,993,948 £101,686,906
 

In addition to the parties listed above, in July the Commission published the accounts of 335 political parties that reported an income and expenditure of £250,000 or less.

Political parties’ financial accounts (Opens in new window) are available on the Commission’s website.

Accounting unit income and expenditure

Political parties can 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. 

12 accounting units in the UK reported income or expenditure of more than £250,000. In total, these 12 accounting units reported £10,267,150 income and £10,195,151 expenditure.

The 12 accounting units that reported income and expenditure above £250,000:

 
Party Accounting unit Income Expenditure
Conservative and Unionist Party Cities of London & Westminster £461,805 £591,710
Conservative and Unionist Party Croydon £203,213 £286,438
Conservative and Unionist Party Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham £288,731 £314,811
Labour Party National Trade Union Liaison £259,737 £272,644
Labour Party Scottish Labour Party £773,999 £897,786
Liberal Democrats ALDC £1,162,557 £1,265,143
Liberal Democrats England £2,441,474 £2,408,878
Liberal Democrats Parliamentary Office of the Liberal Democrats £1,479,821 £1,495,405
Liberal Democrats Scotland £885,635 £594,348
Liberal Democrats Westmorland, Furness and Eden £265,574 £278,735
Liberal Democrats Winchester District £280,112 £147,472
Scottish National Party (SNP) SNP Westminster Parliament Group £1,764,492 £1,641,781
Total   £10,267,150 £10,195,151
 

The financial accounts of all accounting units (Opens in new window) are available on the Commission’s website.

Comparisons with totals in previous years

Below are the total sums of all financial accounts for political parties and their accounting units above the £250,000 threshold in the two previous financial years: 

Political parties

 
  2022 2021 2020
Income £99,993,948 £101,162,626 £86,441,126
Expenditure £101,686,906 £107,657,216 £91,960,717
 

Accounting units

 
  2022 2021 2020
Income £10,267,150 £10,423,890 £9,330,756
Expenditure £10,195,151 £10,176,988 £9,039,842
 

The income and expenditure of parties and accounting units differs each year, so they may fall into different reporting thresholds. The total sums of all 2022 financial accounts compared with those from 2021 and 2020 provide a general comparison and do not necessarily compare the same parties and accounting units. The total sums for 2022 are without Britain First’s accounts.

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. All registered political parties must submit annual statements of accounts. Political parties with income or expenditure of more than £250,000 are required by law to independently audit their accounts and include this report in their submission. 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.
  3. Figures for income and expenditure have been rounded. Please see our online database (Opens in new window) for exact amounts.
  4. Accounting units with income and expenditure that are either £25,000 or less are not required to submit their accounts. 
  5. Details of how failures to submit a statement of accounts by the deadline have been dealt with in the past can be found in our publication of closed cases. (Opens in new window)