Report on campaign spending at the 2009 European Parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom and local elections in England March 2010 Translations and other formats For information on obtaining this publication in another language or in a large-print or Braille version, please contact the Electoral Commission: Tel: 020 7271 0500 Email: [email protected] © The Electoral Commission 2010 Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 European Parliamentary election campaign expenditure by political parties 2 Overview 4 Great Britain expenditure 5 Party expenditure (per category) 14 Northern Ireland expenditure 19 3 European Parliamentary election controlled expenditure by recognised third parties 24 4 European Parliamentary election expenditure by individual candidates 26 5 Expenditure incurred during unitary and English county elections 27 Appendices Appendix A: Parties (including Northern Ireland) that contested the European Parliamentary elections in 2004 and 2009 28 Appendix B: Expenditure categories 30 1 Introduction 1.1 The Electoral Commission’s aim is to instill integrity and public confidence in the democratic process. One of our key objectives is to ensure integrity and transparency of party and election finance. We also have a statutory duty to report on elections.1 This report provides details and analysis of the campaign expenditure incurred by political parties, third parties and candidates at the June 2009 European Parliamentary elections and also candidates at local elections in England in 2009. 1.2 This report is informed by the political parties’ campaign expenditure returns, candidates’ election expenditure returns and previous reports2 published by the Commission on the European Parliamentary elections. 1.3 The report is divided into four sections. The first two sections outline the expenditure incurred by political parties and third parties, while the third section focuses on expenditure by individual candidates. The fourth section briefly looks at expenditure incurred at the English local elections. 1.4 Further information on the legislative context of the European elections, our legislative role, the controls on spending and a definition of campaign expenditure can be found on our website.3 1 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 Parts V and VI. 2www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/47179/RevisedEuropeanExpen drep_18347-13541__E__N__S__W__.pdf. 3 www.electoralcommission.org.uk/party-finance/party-finance-analysis. 1 2 European Parliamentary election campaign expenditure by political parties 2.1 The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) regulates campaign expenditure at certain elections, including elections for the European Parliament. This is defined as any expenditure incurred by a party for electoral purposes; that is, for the purpose of enhancing the standing of or promoting the electoral success for a party at a forthcoming or future election. 2.2 The regulated period for European Parliamentary elections is four months, and for the 2009 elections it ran from 5 February until 4 June, polling day.4 The Electoral Commission published guidance on the rules for parties and independent candidates in advance of the election.5 2.3 In Great Britain there are separate limits for contesting the European Parliamentary elections in England, Scotland and Wales. For each region the limit is calculated as £45,000 multiplied by the number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) returned for that region as detailed in the table below. The expenditure limit for parties contesting all regions, excluding Northern Ireland, was £3,105,000. As European Parliamentary elections use a party list electoral system, the Great Britain expenditure limits apply to party spending only. This means there are no separate spending limits for party candidates. 2.4 When an individual runs as an independent candidate they are subject to controls equivalent to those of candidates from a party.6 This means that independent candidates will have an extremely high spending limit relative to the amount they are likely to spend. Individual candidates submit returns to their respective Returning Officer. 2.5 Following the election, political parties are required to submit a report to the Commission detailing all their campaign expenditure. The report must itemise each individual item of expenditure, with a breakdown of total expenditure incurred by reporting category and part of the UK. If the party incurred expenditure of £250,000 or less it must submit its report within three months of the date of the election poll. If a party spent more than £250,000 it must submit its report within six months of this date with an attached statement from an independent auditor. The deadlines for 2009 were 4 September and 4 December respectively. 2.6 Both the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and British National Party (BNP) received civil penalties for late submission of their respective campaign expenditure return as did the Roman Party – Ave! for not submitting a return. Other than these instances, all expenditure returns were sent to the Commission by the relevant deadlines. 4 www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/election-spending/party-campaign-expenditure. 5 www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/71252/Campaign- Expenditure-2009-Guidance.pdf. 6 European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004. 2 Table 1: Regional campaign expenditure limits at the 2009 European Parliamentary elections Electoral area Number of Expenditure limit (£) MEPs East Midlands 5 225,000 Eastern 7 315,000 London 8 360,000 North East 3 135,000 North West 8 360,000 South East 10 450,000 South West (including 6 270,000 Gibraltar) West Midlands 6 270,000 Yorkshire & the Humber 6 270,000 England (9 regions) 59 2,655,000 Scotland 6 270,000 Wales 4 180,000 Northern Ireland 3 270,000* UK 72 3,375,0007 * Includes expenditure limit for candidates. 7 Limit if standing in all regions including Northern Ireland. 3 Overview 2.7 During the June 2009 European Parliamentary elections, 33 parties in Great Britain and Northern Ireland incurred a total campaign expenditure of almost £9.78 million. This was more than £350,000 less than the total spent by the 32 parties standing in 2004 (£10.13 million). This does not include independent candidate spend (£78,154) which is covered separately.8 2.8 In England, Scotland and Wales,9 a total of 26 parties contested seats at the 2009 European Parliamentary elections, the same number as contested the 2004 elections. These 26 parties spent a total of just over £9 million, some £600k less than they spent in 2004. One potential reason for this lower spend is that the European Parliamentary elections have a combined regulated period with the forthcoming UK Parliamentary general election, meaning that any unspent expenditure below the limit is carried forward and added to the amount available to spend at the general election. 2.9 There was a diverse group of parties: from those who contested every seat in Great Britain, to those standing in just one region. Great Britain expenditure 2.10 Out of the 26 parties in Great Britain contesting the European Parliamentary elections, only 10 ran candidates in all 11 regions. This included the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, BNP, UKIP, the Socialist Labour Party, the Christian Party ‘Proclaiming Christ’s Lordship’; as well as two of the newcomers: No2EU:Yes to Democracy and the Jury Team. 2.11 The distribution of spending was mainly accounted for by the Labour Party, the Conservative party, the Liberal Democrats and UKIP. Collectively they accounted for 80% of the total party spend across Great Britain. The majority of party spend was, as expected, in England with the exception of those parties focusing on specific countries, e.g. Plaid Cymru, Scottish National Party (SNP). 2.12 Overall the distribution of campaign spending in Great Britain closely matched the distribution of seats. The majority of expenditure took place within England (85%); this region of Great Britain contained 85% of the seats available. Scotland accounted for 8% and Wales 7% of total Great Britain spend; respectively they contained 9% and 6% of the seats available. 2.13 The percentage of total expenditure by each party broadly bore some relationship to the percentage of total seats gained, with one exception. This exception, the newly established Jury Team, spent almost 4% of total spend, but did not return a candidate. 8 European Parliamentary election expenditure by individual candidates Chapter 4. 9 Northern Ireland reviewed separately on p14. 4 Table 2: Comparison of total expenditure and seats won in Great Britain for parties that spent more than £250k and/or those who returned MEPs Party name Total (£) Seats % of % of total total seats spend Conservative and Unionist 2,482,536 25 36.23 27.50 Party Labour Party 2,302,244 13 18.84 25.50 United Kingdom Independence 13 18.84 14.08 Party 1,270,855 Liberal Democrats 1,180,884 11 15.94 13.08 Green Party 369,324 2 2.90 4.09 Jury Team 344,522 0 0.00 3.82 British National Party 282,843 2 2.90 3.13 Scottish National Party 126,170 2 2.90 1.40 Plaid Cymru – Party of Wales 95,162 1 1.45 1.05 Total 8,454,540 69 100 94 2.14 The Labour Party, BNP, SNP and Plaid Cymru all increased their total spend from 2004. The Labour Party increased spend by nearly £600,000, while the Conservative Party decreased its total spend by almost £650,000 but it remained the party with the highest total spend (£2,482,536). The Labour Party followed with a total spend in Great Britain of £2,302,244. 2.15 UKIP spent almost half of what it spent in 2004, significantly reducing spend across Great Britain, while returning 13 MEPs. This gave them the best spend-to-seat ratio for those parties contesting seats across all 11 Great Britain regions (£97,758 per seat).