Between Monday 6 April to Sunday 12 April almost £1.7 million (£1,660,458) in donations to four registered political parties in Great Britain were reported to the Electoral Commission as it releases the second of four weekly publications that will be published prior to the poll on 7 May.
By law (The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000), political parties must submit weekly donation and loan reports to the Commission if they are standing candidates in the UK parliamentary election and they have received any donations or loans over £7,500.
Parties must notify the Commission if they are not standing candidates in order to be exempt from weekly reporting.
The four political parties that have reported receiving donations over £7,500 were:
- Conservative Party – £492,512
- Labour Party – £1,109,946
- Liberal Democrats – £50,000
- United Kingdom Independence Party – £8,000
The United Kingdom Independence Party also reported £63,000 worth of donations late. These should have been reported to the Electoral Commission in their first weekly pre-poll report. The Commission is in correspondence with the party to establish the reasons for this.
The Scottish Green Party reported receiving £9,124 of public funds.
No loans over £7,500 were reported by any party.
You can view details of all reportable donations to registered political parties in the second pre-poll period here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/186127/2nd-Weekly-Pre-poll-donations-and-loans-summary-document.pdf
In the first weekly publication, six political parties reported receiving almost £2.5 million in donations.
Non-party campaigners
Changes introduced by the Transparency of Lobbying, Non Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, mean registered non-party campaigners – individuals or organisations that campaign at elections, but are not standing as candidates or political parties – must also submit weekly pre-poll donation reports to the Commission if they have received any amounts above £7,500 to use for the purpose of their regulated campaign activity.
No registered non-party campaigners reported receiving any donations above £7,500.
