The Local Election Money Minefield

A guide to local election campaign finance compliance in England and Wales

This guide sets out the legal framework and practical compliance rules for local campaigns.

It covers principal council elections and by-elections in England and Wales. Candidate election expenses, candidate donations and party loans are governed primarily by the Representation of the People Act 1983 (RPA) and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA).

Apologies to Scottish Greens, but I have nowhere near the expertise needed to advise on the rules north of the border.

1. The candidate who can't pay the printer

Under RPA s.73, candidate election expenses must generally be paid by or through the election agent. The law distinguishes between incurring expenditure (ordering goods or services) and making payments.

Key rule: A candidate generally cannot pay a supplier directly after appointing an agent, even with the agent's approval. However, another party member may pay certain expenses if granted specific written authorisation under RPA s.74 (minor expenses) or s.75 (authorised local campaigning).

Under RPA s.73(6), making an unauthorised payment is an illegal practice. Under ss.169 and 173, conviction can carry a criminal fine and ordinarily three years' electoral disqualification, subject to statutory qualifications and the possibility of relief.

This can apply even if the campaign stayed within its spending limit and correctly declared every penny of expenditure.

In other words, a candidate could pay £1,000 for perfectly legitimate campaign leaflets, with the agent's agreement, and still commit an illegal practice.

There are specific exceptions, including candidate payments made before an agent is appointed and certain personal expenses. A candidate who acts as their own election agent is also in a different position.

Practical rule: Candidates should contribute funds directly to the party or campaign account and let the agent make all payments, except where a specific statutory exception applies.

2. The £500 donation that never appears in the return

Imagine a local party member provides £500 specifically towards a candidate's election expenses.

The election agent spends the money on leaflets and correctly declares the expenditure. But when completing the candidate's return, the agent forgets to declare the £500 donation from the member.

Every penny of spending has been accounted for. Yet the return is still incomplete.

That's because electoral law requires agents to declare not only what was spent, but also reportable donations received to finance the campaign.

Under RPA Schedule 2A, candidate donations over £50 are subject to permissibility, acceptance and reporting rules. These include monetary donations and non-cash contributions, such as goods or services supplied free of charge or at a non-commercial discount.

Party money isn't automatically exempt

Money or resources provided by a local party specifically for a candidate's election expenses can constitute candidate donations and must be recorded in the candidate's return alongside the relevant spending.

By contrast, general donations to a local party fighting fund are ordinarily party donations, provided the fund is genuinely managed and controlled by the party rather than the candidate.

The distinction matters.

A member giving £500 to the local party's general fighting fund is not necessarily making a candidate donation.

A member giving £500 to the local party's general fighting fund specifically to finance a named candidate's campaign may be, even though it is paid to the party, and not to the campaign.

And if the local party subsequently provides that money to the candidate for election expenses, the contribution may also need to appear in the candidate's return.

The treatment depends on how the funds or resources are provided and used. Independently organised party campaigning is not automatically a donation to the candidate.

Who is responsible?

The election agent is responsible for ensuring that the candidate's return is complete, checking donor permissibility and handling impermissible donations within the statutory deadlines.

Under RPA ss.81–84, failures relating to the required returns and declarations can give rise to criminal liability, depending on the offence and circumstances.

The Electoral Commission's guidance specifically distinguishes between general party fighting funds and donations provided for candidate expenditure. Electoral Commission — Local party fighting funds

Practical rule: Don't just ask what the campaign spent. Ask where the money came from, who provided it, for what purpose, and whether it must be reported as a candidate donation.

3. The agent who doesn't control the bank account

RPA s.73 requires payments to be made by or through the agent; the agent does not need to be a bank signatory.

In many local parties, the bank account is controlled by the treasurer and perhaps the chair, while the election agent is responsible for authorising election expenditure.

This is perfectly workable, but it creates a potential compliance problem.

Where a local party treasurer controls the bank account, the safest arrangement is a fully documented system of payment authorisation.

The legislation doesn't prescribe a particular administrative process, but a simple three-step procedure provides a clear audit trail:

1. The agent instructs the treasurer in writing, specifying the supplier, purpose, amount and relevant candidate or candidates.

2. The treasurer makes the payment and records the transaction reference.

3. The treasurer confirms payment to the agent, who retains the instruction, invoice and confirmation.

Email or WhatsApp might feasibly provide an adequate audit trail, provided the instructions are clear and the messages are preserved, but it's best to have a system where the trail is secure, backed up and easily accessible if there's an investigation.

The treasurer should not independently increase the amount, change the supplier or authorise additional candidate expenditure.

If the agent doesn't control the bank account, they should control the payment instructions.

4. The £2,300 loan that becomes a national party problem

Imagine a local party needs £2,300 to finance a council by-election.

A member transfers the money to the party's bank account, with an informal agreement that it will be repaid after polling day.

The treasurer knows about it. The election agent knows the money is available. The campaign spends it on leaflets and advertising.

But nobody draws up a loan agreement. The money isn't entered in the party's loan records, headquarters isn't told, and the loan doesn't appear in the party's quarterly return to the Electoral Commission.

Polling day comes and goes. What happens?

The loan is regulated

Under PPERA Part 4A, loans exceeding £500 to registered political parties are regulated transactions requiring permissibility checks and appropriate records.

The principal thresholds are:

Aggregation rules apply. Several donations or loans from the same source may together trigger reporting requirements, even when individual transactions fall below the reporting threshold.

The Electoral Commission confirms that accounting-unit benefits from the same source are aggregated for reporting purposes and that the central party has separate reporting thresholds. Electoral Commission — Political party donations and loans

An informal agreement can still create a loan. Failing to put it in writing doesn't make it disappear.

The party must establish that the lender is permissible and maintain appropriate records of the amount, date, terms, interest, security and repayments.

The central party bears the reporting responsibility

Here's another peculiarity.

The local accounting unit receives the loan, but the central party treasurer is responsible for reporting it to the Electoral Commission.

Accounting-unit treasurers don't submit separate statutory loan returns to the Commission. They provide the necessary information to the central party treasurer, who submits the party's reports.

That means a local accounting failure can become a national compliance problem.

Under PPERA, failures to report regulated transactions can result in Electoral Commission enforcement, including civil financial penalties. Specified offences can also result in criminal proceedings.

What happens in practice?

In 2022, the Electoral Commission fined the Conservative Party £3,080 for reporting four loans late, totalling approximately £98,245.

The Commission specifically identified weaknesses in the party's arrangements for ensuring that accounting units reported loans to headquarters. Electoral Commission — Enforcement information

That's a useful illustration of the problem. A failure in local financial reporting can result in a penalty against the registered national party.

Changes to a loan's terms may create additional reporting requirements, while waiving or forgiving a loan can trigger donation rules.

One sum of money can therefore generate separate obligations for the local party, the central party and the election agent.

5. Three candidates, one leaflet, three returns

In a three-member ward, a local party might order 20,000 leaflets promoting all three candidates.

The printer sends one invoice. The party treasurer makes one payment.

But there are three candidates, each with their own spending limit and election expenses return.

Even when joint candidates share an agent, leaflets or campaign funds, each candidate must submit an individual expenses and donations return.

Shared expenditure must be apportioned appropriately between the candidates.

And there's another complication.

Under the rules governing joint candidates, individual spending limits are reduced:

Candidates standing in the same ward can become joint candidates simply by sharing an election agent, using the same campaign rooms or publishing joint election material. Sharing campaign rooms merely by accident or coincidence does not, by itself, make candidates joint candidates.

England's spending limits

In England, the standard candidate spending limit for principal council elections is £960 plus 8p per elector.

For example, in a ward with 7,500 electors, the ordinary limit is £1,560.

For joint candidates, the limits become:

A £900 leaflet printing bill shared equally between three joint candidates might reasonably be apportioned at £300 per candidate, with each return recording the appropriate amount.

The election agent must also account for how the expenditure was funded, including any reportable candidate donations.

A shared campaign means shared costs and reduced spending limits. It does not mean a shared statutory return.

These calculations are confirmed by the Electoral Commission's English local election guidance.

Wales' spending limits

Welsh principal council elections operate under the same broad statutory framework, including reduced spending limits for joint candidates and separate election returns.

However, Welsh spending limits differ.

The Electoral Commission's previously published Welsh guidance specifies a basic allowance of £806 plus 7p per elector.

For a ward with 7,500 electors, that produces an ordinary limit of £1,331.

However, the Electoral Commission is updating its Welsh guidance to incorporate legislative changes for the scheduled May 2027 elections.

The historical £806 plus 7p figure should not be treated as the confirmed Welsh spending limit for May 2027. Candidates and agents in Wales should check the updated Electoral Commission guidance before campaigning.

Shared staff and services

Similar questions arise when regional organisers, paid staff, designers or IT services support local campaigns.

Not every central party expense automatically counts as candidate expenditure. The treatment depends on what the resource is used for, whether it falls within a regulated spending category, and whether it is attributable to particular candidates.

Where paid resources constitute candidate spending or notional spending, the appropriate costs must be accounted for and allocated.

Unpaid volunteer time is generally excluded.

Practical rule: Agree how shared costs will be attributed before the money is spent, not when completing the returns.

6. The declaration that could end a political career

At the end of an election campaign, both the election agent and the candidate must sign declarations confirming that the election expenses return is complete and correct to the best of their knowledge and belief.

These aren't simply administrative formalities.

Under RPA s.82(6), knowingly making a false election expenses declaration constitutes a corrupt practice.

That's considerably more serious than many of the administrative offences we've discussed.

The £1,000 printing bill nobody wants to declare

Imagine that the election agent discovers a £1,000 printing bill has been omitted from the candidate's expenses return. This could be for a mistake, for example for a misprinted print run.

Including it would take the candidate over their spending limit.

The agent decides to leave it out and signs the declaration anyway.

The candidate knows about the omitted expenditure but signs their own declaration.

Both could have committed a corrupt practice.

Under RPA s.168, a corrupt practice can be punished by imprisonment, a fine or both. For this offence, the maximum imprisonment on indictment is ordinarily one year.

Under RPA s.173, conviction for a corrupt practice ordinarily results in five years' electoral disqualification.

An election petition may also have consequences for the election result.

This is not a theoretical distinction between different types of paperwork. It is the difference between an administrative failure and conduct that Parliament has specifically classified as electoral corruption.

What if the candidate didn't know?

The declarations are made to the best of the signatory's knowledge and belief.

A candidate isn't automatically guilty of a corrupt practice simply because their agent has made an accounting mistake.

Section 82(6) requires the false declaration to have been made knowingly.

Equally, a candidate cannot safely treat the declaration as something to be signed without consideration.

The candidate should review the return, ask about unexplained expenditure or donations, and satisfy themselves that it accurately reflects the campaign.

The same applies to election agents.

If an agent knows that an invoice has been omitted, that a donation has not been recorded or that expenditure has been deliberately misallocated, they should not sign the declaration while those matters remain unresolved.

An innocent mistake, failure to submit a return and knowingly making a false declaration are legally distinct situations with different potential consequences.

Practical rule: Never knowingly sign a false declaration. Both candidate and agent should review the completed return, resolve discrepancies and obtain appropriate advice before signing if serious questions remain.

The distinction between an illegal practice and a corrupt practice, including the different criminal penalties, is explained in the Crown Prosecution Service's election offences guidance and the Representation of the People Act 1983.

7. The consequences: what can actually happen?

Election finance rules are legal obligations, not simply internal party accounting procedures.

The distinction between illegal and corrupt practices matters.

For an illegal practice, RPA ss.169 and 173 provide for criminal punishment and electoral incapacity. The ordinary incapacity period is three years.

For a corrupt practice, RPA ss.168 and 173 provide for more serious penalties and an ordinary incapacity period of five years.

An election petition may also challenge the result where the relevant legal grounds are established.

These consequences should not be assumed to follow automatically from every administrative error.

The exact offence, the conduct involved, the statutory mental element and any available defence or relief provision all matter.

An RPA offence can have direct consequences for a candidate's political career. A PPERA reporting failure can expose the registered party and responsible officers to regulatory enforcement. Knowingly signing a false declaration can be more serious than either.

8. After polling day, the clock is ticking

Polling day doesn't end the agent's responsibilities.

The declaration of the result starts several statutory deadlines:

Where a deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline generally moves to the next working day.

Claims received or paid outside the statutory deadlines can require a court order. Paying a claim contrary to the applicable rules can constitute an illegal practice.

And even a campaign that spends nothing and receives no donations must submit a nil return.

Importantly, these deadlines concern candidate election expenses. They do not impose a general 28-day deadline for repaying money borrowed by the local party.

9. The £500 favour that might need a specialist lawyer

Finally, consider a situation that probably sounds entirely harmless.

A volunteer tells the election agent:

“Don't worry about the leaflets. I'll pay the £500 printing bill now, and the party can pay me back after the election.”

The agent agrees. The volunteer pays the printer. The leaflets are delivered.

The campaign now owes the volunteer £500.

What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, potentially.

Was the volunteer authorised to pay the printer?

An agent's agreement to the expenditure is not necessarily sufficient.

The volunteer needs to fall within the relevant statutory provisions governing who may make election-expense payments.

If the payment was unauthorised, section 73 may already have been breached.

Who owes the volunteer the money?

Was the volunteer acting for the candidate, the election agent or the local party?

The answer matters because these are not interchangeable arrangements.

Is this a loan?

If the party has agreed to reimburse the volunteer, it has undertaken a financial obligation.

Depending on the agreement, that could be a debt arising from an authorised expense, a loan or another form of credit.

If it amounts to a regulated credit arrangement under PPERA, the rules governing party loans may apply.

A standalone transaction of exactly £500 would ordinarily fall outside that regime, but the classification and value still matter.

Is it also a candidate donation?

The Electoral Commission distinguishes between third-party payments that are reimbursed by the agent and those that are not.

An unreimbursed payment exceeding £50 can be a candidate donation.

But what if the payment was expressly conditional on reimbursement, and the volunteer is still waiting for their money?

Does it matter whether the party or the candidate owes the money?

The campaign cannot safely resolve those questions simply by calling the payment a loan.

When must the volunteer be repaid?

Under RPA section 78, claims for candidate election expenses must ordinarily be submitted within 21 days of the result being declared and paid within 28 days.

But there are exceptions, including provisions affecting expenses lawfully paid by other people.

So does the volunteer's reimbursement claim fall within the 28-day deadline? Or is it repayment of a separate loan to the party?

That depends on the precise legal arrangements.

What happens if the volunteer isn't repaid?

An outstanding debt doesn't automatically become a donation.

But if the volunteer subsequently waives repayment, the transaction may need to be treated as a donation, with the associated permissibility and reporting requirements.

And if the reimbursement should have been made within the statutory election-expense deadline, paying it late could create a further problem.

An expensive question about a £500 bill

We now have a volunteer who wanted to help, an agent who agreed, a printer who has been paid, and a campaign that has received its leaflets.

Nobody intended to break the law.

Yet determining whether the arrangements were lawful could require answering difficult questions about sections 73, 74, 75 and 78 of the RPA, Schedule 2A's donation requirements, and the party-loan provisions of PPERA.

You could conceivably need expensive, specialist electoral lawyers simply to establish whether anybody has broken the law over a £500 printing bill.

And that's before considering what it might cost to defend an investigation or legal proceedings.

This isn't an argument for ignoring the rules. It's an argument for avoiding arrangements that create unnecessary legal uncertainty in the first place.

The simpler approach would have been for the volunteer to advance money to the party under a properly documented arrangement, with the agent then instructing the payment to the printer.

That still requires appropriate financial records and, where applicable, loan reporting. But it separates the financing of the campaign from the payment of election expenses.

10. How to stay compliant: ten simple rules for local campaigns

Most election finance problems can be avoided with a few straightforward procedures. Every local party should have these in place before campaigning begins.

1. Don't let the candidate pay for anything.

As a practical rule, candidates should never pay campaign suppliers directly. If they want to contribute money, they should transfer it to the appropriate campaign fund or the local party and let the election agent arrange payment.

There are statutory exceptions, but avoiding unnecessary reliance on them makes life simpler.

2. Where the treasurer controls the bank account, document every payment authorisation.

The agent should authorise payments in writing, specifying the supplier, amount, purpose and relevant candidate.

The treasurer should confirm each payment, and both should retain the records.

The agent doesn't have to be a bank signatory, but payments must be made through the proper arrangements. A written instruction-and-confirmation process is a straightforward way of demonstrating compliance.

3. Every loan must be documented and agreed with the party accounting unit.

Don't accept informal loans or promises of repayment.

Record the lender, amount, date, repayment terms, interest, security and subsequent changes. Notify the accounting-unit treasurer and follow the party's approval procedures.

For loans to a registered party accounting unit, the main thresholds are:

Aggregation rules apply, so multiple transactions from the same lender may trigger reporting.

The central party has a higher initial reporting threshold of £11,180.

Be aware of this. If you don't record the under-£500 loans, you won't know when when you're over the thresholds.

4. Encourage donations to the local party's general fighting fund.

Where a fighting fund is genuinely managed and controlled by the party, donations are normally party donations rather than donations to individual candidates.

But donations specifically earmarked for a candidate's campaign are treated differently.

Donations to a campaign exceeding £50 must be recorded in the candidate's election return, including the donor's details. This includes relevant donations from the local party itself.

Party donations have their own permissibility and reporting rules. A general fighting fund isn't a way around those obligations.

5. Don't let volunteers pay suppliers expecting reimbursement.

If a volunteer wants to finance leaflets (or anything else), ask them to provide the funds through a properly documented arrangement rather than paying the supplier themselves.

This avoids uncertainty about payment authorisation, whether the money is a donation or loan, who owes the volunteer and when reimbursement is due.

6. Check donors before accepting donations.

Candidate donations over £50 must come from permissible sources.

Record the donor's identity, amount, date received and date accepted.

Carry out the required checks within 30 days and return impermissible donations within the statutory period.

This applies to donations in kind as well as money.

7. Authorise all campaign expenditure before it is incurred.

Nobody should order leaflets, advertising, printing or paid services without the appropriate authorisation.

Where someone other than the agent incurs expenditure, record who authorised it and the amount.

Where section 75 applies, use the appropriate written authorisation and reporting procedures.

8. For joint campaigns, keep separate records for every candidate.

Even if three candidates share an agent, leaflets and campaign funds, each needs a separate election expenses and donations return.

Apportion shared expenditure reasonably, record the allocation and remember that joint candidates have reduced individual spending limits.

9. Maintain a live spending and donations ledger.

Don't wait until after polling day.

For each transaction, record the supplier or donor, amount, purpose, date, candidate allocation, authorisation, payment status and supporting documents.

Keep expenditure, donations, loans and outstanding liabilities distinguishable.

10. Diary the statutory deadlines, reconcile everything and check the declarations before signing.

Claims for candidate election expenses must ordinarily be received within 21 days of the result and paid within 28 days.

The agent's return and declaration are due within 35 days, followed by the candidate's declaration within seven working days.

Before submitting, reconcile the spending ledger against invoices, bank transactions, candidate donations, party contributions and outstanding claims.

Both the agent and candidate should review the completed return before signing their declarations. Never knowingly sign a false declaration.

Nil returns are compulsory too.

11. The golden rule

If you mess up, don't try to hide it. Ask for help.

Electoral law provides ways to correct or mitigate some mistakes, but the opportunities to do so may be limited and subject to strict deadlines. Concealing a mistake can make an already difficult situation considerably worse.

If something goes wrong, preserve the records and seek advice immediately. Your regional Green Party team should be able to help you find the right person.

They haven't authorised me to volunteer their services, by the way. But they should have someone on hand who can help.

Growing parties need stronger systems

The Green Party's growth means more candidates, more election agents, more treasurers and more people handling campaign money.

Many will be volunteers doing these jobs for the first time. They shouldn't have to discover the law through an Electoral Commission investigation, a police interview or an election petition.

Local parties need straightforward training, standard authorisation forms, clear financial procedures and reliable reporting arrangements with the national party.

Above all, we need a culture in which nobody orders, pays for, or receives donations or loans to an election campaign without understanding the rules.

And candidates and agents must understand that signing an election expenses declaration is a serious legal responsibility, not just another piece of paperwork.

Growing into a serious electoral force means taking electoral compliance seriously.

This article concerns principal council elections and by-elections in England and Wales. It is general information, not legal advice. Statutory requirements and reporting thresholds should be checked against the rules in force for the relevant election. Parish and community council elections may be subject to different arrangements.