Summary of Q1 2012 donations and borrowing
Donations
Table 1: Donations to all political parties over the last four quarters
Quarter Donations Public funds Donations excluding public total funds Quarter one 2012 £8,858,790 £852,461 £9,711,252 Quarter four 2011 £6,935,271 £2,078,790 £9,014,061 Quarter three 2011 £10,052,396 £2,088,686 £12,141,082 Quarter two 2011 £8,724,306 £2,796,184 £11,520,490 Total £34,570,763 £7,816,121 £42,386,885
Table 2: Donations to political parties accepted in quarter one 20121
Party Donations Public funds Total excluding accepted in public funds Quarter 1 2012 British National Party £28,737 0 £28,737 Conservative and Unionist Party £4,086,097 £27,012 £4,113,109 Co-operative Party £403,747 0 £403,747 Green Party £12,500 £14,454 £26,954 Labour Party £3,452,441 £639,738 £4,092,179 Liberal Democrats £606,724 £125,822 £732,547 Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales £58,456 £17,483 £75,939 Scottish National Party (SNP) £145,845 £27,952 £173,797 The Socialist Party of Great Britain £26,758 0 £26,758
1 All figures throughout this document are rounded to the nearest pound. In this table aggregated donations (this is where a party accepts a number of smaller donations which then add up to a reportable amount) have been redistributed to the quarter in which they were accepted, rather than the quarter in which they were reported. They therefore are not included in this table. Party Donations Public funds Total excluding accepted in public funds Quarter 1 2012 UK Independence Party (UK I P) £37,485 0 £37,485 Total £8,858,790 £852,461 £9,711,252
Table 3: Donations accepted in previous quarters and reported late in quarter one 2012
Party National Party Accounting unit Value Number Value Number British National Party £31,119 3 £2000 1 Conservative and £19,200 1 0 0 Unionist Party Co-operative Party 0 0 £7138 1 Labour Party £23,389.62 1 0 0 Liberal Democrats 0 0 £24,476 12 Total £73,708.62 5 £33,614 14
Of the 349 registered political parties, the majority submitted their returns on time or were exempt from reporting. Only five parties failed to meet the statutory deadline and this high rate of compliance by the majority of parties continues from the previous quarter.
Four parties (Commonwealth National Party, Democratic Republican Party, Northumbria Party – The North East Party and UK Champagne Socialist Party) have not submitted donation and loan reports for quarter one 2012. One party (National People’s Party) has not submitted its loan report for quarter one 2012. We will contact the parties asking for an explanation, in line with our enforcement policy, as to why they have not submitted their donations and loans reports for this quarter.
Public funds
Four parties, the Green Party, the Labour Party, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales and the Scottish National Party (SNP), accepted a total of £549,361 in Short money, which the UK Parliament pays directly to opposition parties in the House of Commons.
Three parties – Conservative and Unionist Party, Labour Party and Liberal Democrats – accepted a total of £143,126 in assistance paid directly to opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament.
The Labour Party accepted a total of £45,821 in Cranborne money, which is paid directly to opposition party in the House of Lords.
The Liberal Democrats accepted a total of £114,153 in Policy Development Grants, which are allocated according to a formula approved by the UK Parliament and distributed by the Electoral Commission.
Borrowing
Table 4: Total outstanding borrowing by party as at 31 March 2012
Party Loans Credit Connected facilities transaction
Christian Party “Proclaiming Christ’s £200,000 £0 £0 Lordship” Conservative and Unionist Party £2,660,913 £10,161,000 £0 English Democrats Party £108,041 £0 £0 Jury Team (de-registered) £519,056 £20,000 £0 Labour Party £9,867,923 £1,793,000 £600,000 Liberal Democrats £397,270 £1,042,000 £40,000 Pensioners Party £8,436 £0 £0 Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales £59,413 £350,000 £0 Scottish National Party (SNP) £424,503 £7,500 £0 Scottish Socialist Party £63,000 £10,000 £0 Scottish Voice £200,000 £0 £0 The People’s Party for Better Government £7,800 £0 £0 The Progressive Party £100,000 £5,000 £105,000 The Respect Party £18,417 £0 £0 UK Independence Party (UK I P) £0 £0 £0 Total £14,634,772 £13,388,500 £745,000
Table 5: New loans in quarter one 20122
Party Total amount of new loans Conservative and Unionist Party £6,947.28 Labour Party £11,900.00 Liberal Democrats £10,400.00 Total new loans £29,247.28
Table 6: Loans repaid in full or converted to donation in quarter one 20123
Party Loans converted to Loans repaid in full donations (including partial conversion) Conservative and Unionist Party £0 £20,386.64 Liberal Democrats £0 £2,100.00 Scottish National Party (SNP) £0 £30,000.00 UK Independence Party (UK I P) £0 £11,520.00 Total loans repaid £0 £64,006.64
There were no new credit facilities taken out in quarter one 2012
The Labour Party reported reducing two credit facilities by £1,139,000 in quarter one 2012.
The Conservative and Unionist Party reported the end of a loan of £10,000 that should have been reported in a previous quarter. The Liberal Democrats also reported late the ending of a £3,000 loan.
2 Further details including the date on which the loan was entered into, date repayable, interest rate (whether fixed, variable or nil), whether security was given and details of the lender are available on the Electoral Commission website.
3 Changes to terms and conditions of borrowings (such as changes to interest rate and repayment or review date) must be reported to the Electoral Commission. These details are available to view on the Commission website.