The Labour Party SOUTHPORT Constituency Labour Party Accounting Unit STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS For the year ended 31 December 2019 INTRODUCTION This Statement of Accounts provides a report of the political and financial activities of SOUTHPORT CLP Accounting Unit. Address: The Labour Party, Southside, 105 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QT For the purposes of the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 the responsible officers are: Name Position Linda Heap Registered Treasurer Mhairi Doyle Chair (Deputy Treasurer) This Statement of Accounts uses cash accounting in line with guidance issued by the Electoral Commission. Last year’s accounts were prepared on the cash basis. The figures shown for last year have not been recalculated. ELECTED OFFICIALS Five elected councillors sit on Sefton Council REVIEW OF POLITICAL ACTIVITIES Membership at end of 2019 was 923. This was a decrease from the previous year of 60, due in a large part by some members disagreeing with our policy on Brexit. In 2019 we fought another hard local council election campaign. After winning our first two elected council seats, we wanted to increase our seats. The two sitting councillors in Norwood ward, who had defected from the LibDems after the general election, decided to both stand down, so we fought an election and by-election in that ward as well as in our other target ward in Kew. We also had a secondary target in Birkdale. We increased our door-knocking and identifying our vote across the constituency. On Election Day we used our resources in the target wards, were out from 6am in all three wards, and we all worked tirelessly to get our vote out. This resulted in another historic outcome, returning 3 elected Labour councillors to Sefton Council. Southport now has 5 elected Labour Councillors, in the space of a year. We continued to canvass and identify our vote and are now on 50+% Constituency wide though our target wards are both over 70% This carries on, we continue to increase our contact rate. We have been out continuously since 2017 and are continuing to canvass. Our profile has risen because of our target-seat status and we have been lucky to have high profile visits from many of the shadow cabinet including Angela Rayner, Emily Thornbury, Dawn Butler, Dan Carden, Peter Dowd, Bill Esterson and Jeremy Corbyn. When the election was called, we guickly identified a base in the town centre. We had huge support from other Merseyside constituencies and our Get Out The Vote volunteers on Election Day were over 200. We worked really hard, but we were up against a combination of a sitting Conservative MP and an older population who just wanted to “Get BREXIT Done. Despite this we bucked the trend, increased our vote by 6.3% and consolidated the Lib Dem 3rd place. Their vote decreased by over 50%. The result was hugely disappointing, but we remain positive and continue with our constituency work. Having 5 councillors also keeps our profile high as they are very visible in their communities. The AGM was held in July and we have a fully functioning CLP, with well attended all member meetings. We have guest speakers many months, have a Constituency plan and all our wards meet regularly. Our campaign committee is active; we get good press coverage. Our aim for the future is to increase our active membership, continue to increase our voter ID and increase our number of councillors elected. REVIEW OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES Income The CLP undertook a few low key fundraising events prior to the calling of the election in December. Once this was called, with Southport being a target seat, the constituency gratefully received support from a number of trade unions, Unite, GMB and CWU, which significantly boosted income. Unite also provides financial support towards the constituency organiser’s employment costs. Expenditure The constituency spent a reasonable amount on the local elections in May 2019, with three target wards where spending was just under the required limit. The majority of the expenses relate to the December general election, where increased leafletting and direct mails were possible because of the financial support from various unions. Assets The only assets the constituency has are its bank balances. DECLARATION I confirm that this Statement of Accounts is correct to the best of my knowledge and has been approved by the accounting unit’s management committee. Signature Date Position Statement of Accounts 2019 SOUTHPORT CLP 1 January to 31 December 2019 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS RECEIPTS Note 2019 2018 Membership 1 £2,079.71 £3,161.50 Affiliations 2 £102.00 £108.00 Donations 3 £26,054.69 £8,463.00 Branch income 4 £989.00 £955.60 Fundraising income 5 £5,233.22 £5,631.51 100 Club surplus £578.00 £796.00 Total receipts £35,036.62 £19,115.61 PAYMENTS Note 2019 2018 Branch expenditure 4 £360.00 £230.20 Staff costs 8 £9,846.40 £2,210.86 Campaigning costs 9 £21,517.51 £5,551.95 Fundraising costs 5 £2,530.21 £0.00 Financing charges and taxation 10 £30.40 £26.80 Miscellaneous 7 £1,004.76 £1,146.70 Total payments £35,289.28 £9,166.51 Surplus/(Deficit) for the year -£252.66 £9,949.10 SOUTHPORT CLP Statement of Assets and Liabilities At 31 December 2019 Fixed assets Note 2019 2018 Property £0.00 £0.00 Fixtures and fittings £0.00 £0.00 Office equipment £0.00 £0.00 Total fixed assets £0.00 £0.00 Current assets (at 31 December) 2019 2018 Cash in hand £0.00 £0.00 Current account £15,272.57 £14,350.29 Premises account £0.00 £0.00 Branches £2,880.43 £2,362.43 Other account £726.24 £2,419.18 Merchandise £0.00 £0.00 Total current assets £18,879.24 £19,131.90 Total assets £18,879.24 £19,131.90 Liabilities Note Loans outstanding £0.00 £0.00 Total liabilities £0.00 £0.00 Net assets/(liabilities) £18,879.24 £19,131.90 Annual Statement of Accounts 2019 SOUTHPORT CLP 1 January to 31 December 2019 Notes to accounts Note 1 - Membership 2019 2018 Membership Incoming Outgoing Incoming Outgoing From Head Office £2,079.71 - £3,161.50 - Subs collected locally £0.00 - £0.00 - Subs sent to head office - £0.00 - £0.00 Total £2,079.71 £0.00 £3,161.50 £0.00 Note 2 - Affiliations Organisation 2019 2018 Unison £18.00 £18.00 Unite £12.00 £18.00 CWU £30.00 £36.00 GMB £24.00 £18.00 Co-op £6.00 £6.00 Usdaw £12.00 £12.00 Total £102.00 £108.00 Note 3 - Donations Cash and non-cash (notional) donations with a value of more than £500 are reported to the central Labour Party at the end of the quarter in which they are received. In turn, the central Labour Party reports some donations received by the Accounting Unit on to the Electoral Commission as follows: a) donations from Trade Unions and the Co-operative Party of more than £500 b) donations of more than £1500 from the same donor (individuals, companies, unincorporated associations etc) in a calender year given either as a single donation or several donations of more than £500 which add up to more than £1500. A list of the donations received by the Accounting Unit which have been reported to the Electoral Commission can be viewed at: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/party-finance/PEF-online-registers Donations 2019 2018 Donations of more than £1500 Unite £4,000.00 £4,000.00 Jane Moores £5,000.00 £2,000.00 GMB £5,000.00 CWU £2,000.00 Unite £3,000.00 Sub-total £19,000.00 £6,000.00 All other donations £7,054.69 £2,463.00 Total donations £26,054.69 £8,463.00 Note 4 - Branch income and expenditure Branch 2019 2018 2019 2018 Income Expenditure Income Expenditure Balances Balances Ainsdale £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £336.56 £336.56 Birkdale £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 Cambridge £361.00 £250.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 Dukes £120.00 £0.00 £240.00 £80.00 £630.00 £510.00 Kew £180.00 £110.00 £155.60 £50.00 £479.10 £409.10 Meols £0.00 £0.00 £560.00 £100.20 £1,056.77 £1,056.77 Norwood £328.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £378.00 £50.00 £989.00 £360.00 £955.60 £230.20 £2,880.43 £2,362.43 Note 5 - Fundraising Event 2019 2018 Income Costs Profit Profit Xmas social £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £698.00 Raffle - signed copy manifesto £311.92 £8.00 £303.92 £0.00 Neville Southall dinner £3,438.95 £2,072.20 £1,366.75 £0.00 Yard sale & film £301.90 £210.00 £91.90 £0.00 Merchandising £325.45 £240.01 £85.44 £0.00 John Prescott dinner £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £711.46 Emily Thornberry dinner £855.00 £0.00 £855.00 £2,767.30 Stand up for Labour £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £1,164.15 Collection at meeting £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £50.60 Joint fundraiser with Formby £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £240.00 £5,233.22 £2,530.21 £2,703.01 £5,631.51 Note 6 - Delegates costs Item 2019 2018 Income Expenditure Income Expenditure Delegates fees - annual £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £463.00 Conference etc. £0.00 £194.64 £0.00 £0.00 Delegates expenses - Womens annual Conference etc.