Summary of political parties donations and borrowing for quarter one 2015 (January to March) The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. We regulate party and election finance and set standards for wellrun elections. Registered political parties are required to report quarterly donation and loan returns to us within 30 days of the end of each calendar quarter. This document is a summary of donations and borrowing reported to us in the quarter one 2015 returns. Read our news release on the quarter one donations and loans at: Find full analysis and breakdown of the figures for quarter one 2015 at: www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/political-partiescampaigning-and-donations/donations-and-loans-to-political-parties/quarterlydonations-and-loans http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/journalist/electoral-commissionmedia-centre/news-releases-donations/political-parties-latest-donations-andborrowing-figures-published19
Table 1: to all political parties over the last four quarters Quarter excluding public funds Public funds total Quarter 1 2015 (Jan-Mar) 30,636,084 2,366,125 33,002,210 Quarter 4 2014 (Oct-Dec) 20,408,640 3,834,816 24,243,456 Quarter 3 2014 (Jul-Sept) 15,126,459 351,060 15,477,519 Quarter 2 2014 (Apr-Jun) 15,506,355 2,667,110 18,173,465 Total 81,677,538 9,219,111 90,896,650 Table 2: to political parties accepted in quarter one 2015 (January to March) excluding public funds Public funds Total accepted in Quarter one 2015 All People's 41,776 0 41,776 Communist of Britain 28,400 0 28,400 Conservative 15,404,569 38,909 15,443,478 Co-operative 411,672 0 411,672 Green 303,142 16,038 319,180 Labour 9,334,757 2,233,455 11,568,212 Liberal Democrats 3,007,691 9,665 3,017,356 Plaid Cymru The of Wales 0 19,400 19,400 Scottish National (SNP) 1,055,250 48,659 1,103,909 Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition 62,500 0 62,500 UK Independence (UKIP) 986,327 0 986,327 Total 30,636,084 2,366,125 33,002,210
Table 3: accepted in previous quarters and reported late in quarter one 2015 Central Accounting unit Value Number Value Number All People s 34,809 3 0 0 Conservative 50,000 1 18,642 6 Liberal Democrats 0 0 30,196 12 Scottish National (SNP) UK Independence (UKIP) 19,220 2 3,517 2 0 0 3,430 3 Total 104,029 6 55,785 23 Table 4: Top donors for quarter one 2015 Donor Name Total amount ( ) Recipient 1 Unite the Union 3,538,512 Labour 2 GMB 696,680 Labour 3 John Griffin 661,250 Conservative 4 UNISON 571,563 Labour 5 Michael D Gooley 500,000 Conservative 6 Christine Weir 500,000 Scottish National (SNP) 7 Colin Weir 500,000 Scottish National (SNP) 8 9 Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers George G Watson (bequest) 449,867 Labour 400,000 Liberal Democrats 10 James R Lupton 375,900 Conservative
Public funds Table 5: Total of public funds accepted by parties in quarter one 2015 by type Short money (House of Commons) Cranborne money (House of Lords) Financial assistance to parties (Scottish Parliament) Policy Development Grant Conservative 0 0 38,909 0 38,909 Green 16,038 0 0 0 16,038 Labour 1,629,398 194,604 69,712 339,742 2,233,455 Liberal Democrats 0 0 9,665 0 9,665 Plaid Cymru The of Wales Scottish National (SNP) Total 19,400 0 0 0 19,400 48,659 0 0 0 48,659 Total 1,713,495 194,604 118,286 339,742 2,366,125 Eligible political parties receive their allocation of the policy development grant at different times of the financial year. Reporting nil in any one quarter does not mean that the party has not received the grant during the year.
Late reporting There were 430 registered political parties in Great Britain during Quarter 1 2015. 104 were required to submit a quarterly donation report and 92 to submit borrowing information within the deadline. Of these, the following parties failed to submit a donation or loan report for the Q1 2015 deadline. 2015 Constitutionalists UK (GB) ACC (GB) [De-registered 12/01/15] Britain First (GB) British Constitution (GB) Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol (GB) English Democrats (GB) Equal and Just Society (GB) Europeans (GB) For Russia (GB) Harlow Independent (GB) Kitten Independence (GB) Mitcham Independent (GB) NOTA (GB) [De-registered 12/01/15] People Social Freedom (GB) Stamford Group of Independents (GB) The Blue (GB) The Commonwealth Liberation (GB) The Globelization Liberation Dream (GB) The Pluralist (GB) The Radical (GB) The Reality (GB) [De-registered 12/01/15] The Sensible (GB) TLC - The Local Community - Shepton Mallet (GB) Valour (GB) Village Voice (GB) All other parties are currently exempt from quarterly reporting. Note: Parties that submit nil returns for four consecutive quarters are then exempt from quarterly reporting. The exemption continues to apply unless the party receives reportable donations again at which point the exemption is lifted and the party would again have to submit quartely reports to the Commission. Any potential breaches of the legislation will be considered in line with our usual enforcement policy, which can be viewed here:
Borrowing Table 6: Total outstanding borrowing by party as at 31 March 2015 Loans 1 Credit facilities 2 Alliance EPP: European People s UK Connected transactions 3 27,300 0 0 Conservative 1,085,316 5,556,000 0 English Democrats 166,644 0 0 Equal and Just Society 8,000 0 0 Labour 10,749,873 10,000 0 Liberal Democrats 467,797 572,500 40,000 Plaid Cymru - The of Wales 9,413 50,000 0 Scottish National (SNP) 165,553 0 0 Scottish Socialist 63,000 10,000 0 Scottish Voice 200,000 0 0 The Peoples For Better Government 7,800 0 0 The Respect 18,417 0 0 UK Independence (UKIP) 290,492 0 0 Total 13,259,605 6,198,500 40,000 1 This is the maximum value of loans entered into by a party. In some instances, amounts may have been repaid and converted to donations. Further detail is available on PEF Online 2 Credit facilities are an agreement where a registered party is entitled to receive a loan of money from time to time from another person (or organisation). The credit facility will generally have an upper limit specified in the credit facility agreement. Examples of common credit facilities include overdrafts and credit cards. The amount displayed is the maximum that can be borrowed and not the amount that is drawn upon at any one time 3 Connected transactions are an arrangement where a person (or organisation) gives any form of security on behalf of a political party in respect of a loan or a credit facility arranged with someone other than the party or the person giving security. Where a person (or organisation) has provided security or a guarantee, it is the maximum that they could be liable to pay.
Table 7: New loans reported in quarter one 2015 Full details of loans, 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 at: https://pefonline.electoralcommission.org.uk/search/searchintro.aspx Total value of new loans Alliance EPP: European People s UK 27,300 Conservative 3,167 Green 15,437 Labour 3,750 Liberal Democrats 56,000 UK Independence (UKIP) 155,977 Total 261,631 Table 8: Loans repaid in full or converted to donations reported in quarter one 2015 Changes to terms and conditions of borrowings (such as changes to interest rate and repayment or review date) must also be reported to us. These details are available to view at: https://pefonline.electoralcommission.org.uk/search/searchintro.aspx. Loans converted to donations (including partial conversion) Loans repaid in full Conservative 0 9,000 Total loans ended 0 9,000