Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government
(): In July 2023, the Government
confirmed its intention [HCWS985(opens in a new tab)]
to proceed with uprating reserved and excepted party and
candidate spending limits and donations thresholds to reflect
historic inflation in the years since the respective limits were
set between the years 2000 and 2020. The intention to review
these thresholds was set out in December 2020, and the
Parliamentary Parties Panel was consulted.
Today, the Government has laid before Parliament legislation
completing the uprating of candidate spending limits by uprating
the limits for candidates at Greater London Authority elections
and local authority mayoral elections. The latter will align with
the planned new spending limits for Combined Authority and
Combined County Authority mayoral elections, ensuring parity
between mayoralties.
The uprating of election spending limits is necessary as many of
the statutory limits, set in absolute terms, have not been
uprated in recent times. Some have not changed since 2000, as is
the case for Greater London Authority elections. The lack of
change in absolute terms impacts campaigning ability, given the
increased costs of printing, postage and communication, which is
vital for parties and candidates to engage with voters.
Parliament anticipated this, which is why the legislation allows
for these limits to be adjusted to account for inflation. The
Government’s policy is to increase them so that they are the same
in real terms as the original limits set by Parliament.
Furthermore, violence and intimidation cannot be tolerated and
will have absolutely no place in our public life. The Elections
Act 2022 provides for new measures to tackle intimidation in
elections, building on the wider work to address intimidation in
public life (as outlined in the written statement of 9 March
2021, HCWS833(opens in a new
tab)).
No one should feel afraid to participate in our democracy. To
provide clarity on the issue of whether security expenses fall to
be regulated under electoral law, the legislation laid today also
explicitly exempts reasonable security expenses from contributing
to spending limits for political parties, candidates and other
campaigners at reserved and excepted UK elections. This will
ensure that these limits are not a barrier to providing adequate
security during election campaigns.
Many parties and agents already take the view that money spent on
the security of a candidate is clearly not money spent promoting
that candidate to the electorate; however, the Government
believes there are merits in explicitly stating this in law to
provide greater clarity.
Together, with the other recent instruments the Government has
made, these measures will support continued democratic engagement
by political parties and candidates, and facilitate continued
freedom of expression whilst ensuring our elections remain safe,
free and fair.
