The financial accounts of the UK political parties and their accounting units with income or expenditure of over £250,000 for the year ending 31 December 2015 have today (4 August) been published by the Electoral Commission, the independent party finance watchdog. The publication is part of the Commission’s commitment to ensuring transparency in party finance.
Party income and expenditure
Sixteen parties in the UK reported having gross income or total expenditure in 2015 of over £250,000. In total, these parties reported £122,451,645 income and £119,228,857 expenditure. Compared to 2014, income for these parties increased by around £14.8 million and their expenditure increased by just under £18 million. In 2015, 16 parties reported income or expenditure over £250,000 compared to 13 in 2014.
Party
|
Income
|
Expenditure
|
British National Party
|
£376,424
|
£344,287
|
The Commonwealth Liberation Party
|
£826,736
|
£723,805
|
Conservative and Unionist Party
|
£41,887,000
|
£41,030,000
|
Co-operative Party
|
£1,029,424
|
£1,087,473
|
Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.
|
£533,682
|
£511,766
|
Green Party
|
£3,048,921
|
£3,527,730
|
Labour Party
|
£51,153,000
|
£46,789,000
|
Liberal Democrats
|
£7,881,909
|
£9,557,030
|
Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales
|
£737,768
|
£763,678
|
Scottish Green Party
|
£390,417
|
£404,550
|
Scottish National Party (SNP)
|
£6,010,002
|
£5,454,507
|
SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party)
|
£543,704
|
£600,851
|
Sinn Féin
|
£1,162,851
|
£1,215,331
|
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
|
£5,816,166
|
£6,667,442
|
Ulster Unionist Party
|
£412,805
|
£310,613
|
Women's Equality Party
|
£640,836
|
£240,794
|
Accounting unit income and expenditure
Political parties may also register ‘accounting units’ with the Electoral Commission. These are constituent or affiliated units of a political party, including constituency parties, who operate separate finances from the main party.
Sixteen accounting units reported income or expenditure of over £250,000. In total these accounting units reported £9,638,132 income and £8,528,773 expenditure.
Accounting unit
|
Income
|
Expenditure
|
Conservative and Unionist Party – Aylesbury
|
£215,323
|
£262,039
|
Conservative and Unionist Party – Cities of London & Westminster
|
£343,238
|
£321,810
|
Conservative and Unionist Party – Kensington
|
£228,694
|
£262,270
|
Conservative and Unionist Party – Suffolk West
|
£260,049
|
£75,366
|
Conservative and Unionist Party – Surrey Heath
|
£259,814
|
£319,478
|
Democratic Unionist Part (D.U.P.) – Westminster
|
£240,291
|
£286,350
|
Labour Party – Bath CLP
|
£1,643,891
|
£272,746
|
Labour Party – National Trade Union Liaison
|
£387,846
|
£479,285
|
Labour Party – Scottish Labour Party
|
£1,073,108
|
£974,931
|
Liberal Democrats – ALDC
|
£484,698
|
£519,662
|
Liberal Democrats – England
|
£2,002,199
|
£2,151,309
|
Liberal Democrats – Parliamentary Office of the Liberal Democrats
|
£744,446
|
£740,168
|
Liberal Democrats – Scotland
|
£613,722
|
£727,459
|
Liberal Democrats – Sheffield
|
£223,565
|
£269,324
|
Liberal Democrats – Wales
|
£302,531
|
£301,811
|
Scottish National Party (SNP) – Westminster
|
£614,717
|
£564,765
|
Late submissions
The deadline for parties and accounting units with income or expenditure of more than £250,000 to submit audited accounts to the Electoral Commission was 7 July.
One political party, the Commonwealth Liberation Party, and one accounting unit of the Labour Party, Bath CLP, failed to provide an accompanying auditor report with their submission. Political parties and their accounting units with income or expenditure over £250,000 are required by law to independently audit their accounts and include this report in their submission.
The Commission will consider each of these reporting failures in line with its establishedEnforcement Policy.
Ends
Full details of the financial accounts that were published today can be viewed on our websitehere
Last month the Electoral Commission published the financial accounts of parties and accounting units with income or expenditure of £250,000 or less. For more information, clickhere.
