Summary of political parties donations and borrowing for quarter four 2016 (October to December) The Electoral Commission is the independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance in the UK. We work to promote public confidence in the democratic process and ensure its integrity. Registered political parties are required to report quarterly donation and borrowing 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 four 2016 returns. Find full analysis and breakdown of the figures for quarter four, 2016 here. Read our news release on the quarter four donations and loans here.
Donations Table 1: Reported donations to all political parties over the last four quarters Quarter Donations excluding public funds Public funds Donations total Q4 2016 7,737,775 2,417,009 10,154,784 Q3 2016 6,490,557 2,334,194 8,824,750 Q2 2016 14,992,533 3,159,681 18,152,214 Q1 2016 11,954,008 2,370,143 14,324,151 Total 41,174,873 10,281,027 51,455,898 Table 2: Donations to political parties accepted in quarter four 2016 (October to December) Donations excluding public funds Public funds Total accepted in quarter 4 2016 British National 9,429-9,429 Conservative and Unionist 3,610,983 57,529 3,668,513 Co-operative 39,750-39,750 English Democrats 5,000-5,000 Green 46,228 53,025 99,253 Labour 1,970,055 1,797,090 3,767,145 Liberal Democrats 1,972,904 210,729 2,183,633 Scottish Green 16,032-16,032 Scottish National (SNP) 4,165 298,635 302,800 UK Independence (UKIP) 33,228-33,228 Women s Equality 30,000-30,000
Table 3: Donations accepted in previous quarters and reported late in quarter four 2016 Central Accounting unit Value Number Value Number Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol [De-registered 20,000 1-0 Labour - - 15,327 4 Liberal Democrats 25,000 1 5,250 2 The Socialist of Great Britain 360,000 2 - - Grand Total 385,000 4 20,577 6 Table 4: Top donors for quarter four 2016 Donor Name Total amount ( ) Recipient Mr Gregory Nasmyth Unite the Union Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers GMB 1,000,000 Liberal Democrats 440,622 Labour 368,693 Labour 332,808 Labour National Conservative Draws Society 300,000 Mr Michael Davis 266,000 Mr David Rowland 233,000 Conservative and Unionist Conservative and Unionist Conservative and Unionist Mr Alec Kellaway Communication Workers Union CWU Mr Michael Banks 193,579 Labour 121,132 Labour 120,000 Liberal Democrats
Public funds Table 5: Total of public funds accepted by parties in quarter four 2016 by type Short money (House of Commons) 1 Cranborne money (House of Lords) 2 Financial assistance to parties (Scottish Parliament) 3 Policy Development Grant Total Conservative and Unionist - - 57,529-57,529 Green 53,025 - - - 53,025 Labour 1,574,952 184,165 37,973-1,797,090 Liberal Democrats 136,043 66,699 7,988-210,729 Scottish National (SNP) 298,635 - - - 298,635 Total 2,062,655 250,864 103,490-2,417,009 1 Allocated to opposition parties in the House of Commons to assist with costs 2 Allocated to opposition parties in the House of Lords to assist with costs 3 Allocated to opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament to assist with costs
Late reporting There were 398 registered political parties in Great Britain during quarter four 2016. 57 were required to submit a quarterly donation report and 51 to submit borrowing information within the deadline. Of these, the following parties failed to submit a donation or loan report for the Q4 2016 deadline. Donations Reported late British National English Democrats Jammu Kashmir National Awami UK Revolution UK Women's Equality Failed to report Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol Chesterfield And North Derbyshire Independents Clydesdale and South Scotland Independent Common Enact English Independence Europeans Immigrants Political [Deregistered Rayleigh Independents Take Back the City The Diamond [De-registered The Economic Democracy Unity Scotland - The Unity We Are The Reality [Deregistered Borrowing Reported late British National Chesterfield And North Derbyshire Independents Jammu Kashmir National Awami UK Failed to report Common Enact English Independence Europeans Everyone's Immigrants Political [Deregistered One Love Rayleigh Independents Revolution UK Take Back the City The Diamond [De-registered The Economic Democracy
The Republic Unity Scotland - The Unity 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 December 2016 Loans 4 Credit facilities 5 Alliance EPP: European People s UK Connected transactions 6 45,341 - - British National 119,304 - - Conservative and Unionist 838,347 5,554,000 - English Democrats 166,644 - - Equal and Just Society 8,000 - - Labour 814,783 113,000 - Liberal Democrats 1,000,317 55,000 40,000 One Love 10,000 - - Plaid Cymru The of Wales 9,413 50,000 - Scottish National (SNP) 665,553 - - Scottish Socialist 63,000 10,000 - The Peoples For Better Government The Respect [Deregistered 18/08/2016] UK Independence (UKIP) 7,800 - - 18,417 - - 285,000 - - Total 4,052,498 5,782,000 40,000 4 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 5 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 6 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 four 2016 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: http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/ Total value of new loans Alliance EPP: European People s UK 1,501 Conservative and Unionist 5,000 Total 6,501 Table 8: Loans repaid in full or converted to donations reported in quarter four 2016 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: http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/ Loans converted to donations (including partial conversion) Loans repaid in full Conservative and Unionist - 14,000 Liberal Democrats 2,000 8,100 Total 2,000 22,100