Issue

Rules

Who is covered?

Are the rules different during an election period?

Limitations on donations made to political parties and related reporting obligations

Part 4 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000

• Parties may only accept donations from permissible donors. If a party receives a donation from an impermissible source, it must return it and report it to the Electoral Commission.
• Any donations above £500 to a political party, or £50 to a candidate, must be properly recorded, and donations over £11,180 per year from a single source, whether in aggregate or as a single payment, must be reported by the party to the Electoral Commission in a quarterly register of donations. This threshold is lowered to £2,230 where a donation is from a source which has already been reported in the same calendar year.
• It is a criminal offence to seek to evade PPERA 2000 by making a series of small donations.

These rules apply to political parties and candidates. PPERA does not impose any obligations on donors.

Donations above £11,180 must be reported weekly, rather than quarterly, during an election period.

Donations made by UK incorporated companies to political parties

Part 14 Companies Act 2006

• Political donations or expenditure require shareholder approval and, in cases of a group, must be authorised by resolutions of both the paying company itself and its ultimate UK-registered parent company. The default position is that an ordinary resolution will suffice.
• All political expenditure, regardless of its value, must be authorised, but approval is not required for political donations of £5,000 or less within a 12 month period. This figure applies to the aggregate of all donations made by all companies in a group.

Companies incorporated in the UK

No

Non-party campaigning

Part 5 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000

• Individuals and companies cannot spend over £20,000 in England or £10,000 in any of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland on regulated campaign activities during the 365 days before a General Election, without registering with the Electoral Commission as a non-political party campaigner and disclosing their expenditure.

• Non-party campaigns must notify the Electoral Commission if they intend to spend more than £10,000 across the UK. Foreign entities are prohibited from spending over £700, unless they constitute a group of UK overseas electors.
• It is a criminal offence for a person to authorise expenditure above the limit to be incurred by or on behalf of a company that is not registered as a campaigner.

Non-party campaigning individuals and companies incorporated in the UK

Yes – these limits apply during the regulated period of the 365 days before a General Election.

Consultant lobbyists

Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014

• All consultant lobbyists must be entered on the register of consultant lobbyists, and make quarterly information reports of their name, registered address, whether they subscribe to a publicly available code of conduct, and information on the clients for whom they acted in the relevant quarter. Failing to do so, doing so late, doing so inaccurately, or failing to provide information to rectify an inaccuracy are all criminal offences subject to civil penalties.
• A Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists has the power to serve an information notice on any registered person or any person who the Registrar has reasonable grounds for believing is a consultant lobbyist. Failing to respond to one on time, or doing so inaccurately, is a criminal offence subject to civil penalties.

Consultant lobbyists: those who communicate with either a holder of an office in the Government or permanent secretary in relation to the development, adoption or modification of any legislation or policy or any other function of government, where this is done in the course of a business, on behalf of another and for payment. This may be a company, partnership, individual or person outside of the UK.

No

Transparency obligations and oversight of Parliament and public bodies

The Ministerial Code

• Ministers must be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, and give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, ensuring that civil servants who give evidence to Parliamentary committees on their behalf do the same.
• Details of Ministers’ external meetings, gifts, hospitality and travel must be published quarterly.

Ministers

No

Freedom of Information Act

• Government-held information provided by or about private organisations may be required to be published, unless exempt (e.g. commercially sensitive or legally privileged information), or various practical steps to mitigate the risk of disclosure have been taken.

Public bodies

No

MP Code of Conduct

MPs must, inter alia:

• Confirm that they have not engaged in paid advocacy;
• Not pursue interests which are wholly personal and particular to the Member, such as may arise from a profession or occupation outside the House;
• Declare their outside interests, including any paid employment; and
• Register details of family members involved in lobbying the public sector.

MPs

No