Political Parties: Finance

Sarah Teather
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much each registered political party (a) spent and (b) raised by donation and reported to the Electoral Commission in each year since 2001.

Bridget Prentice
The number of registered political parties in the UK has fluctuated over the period 2001 to 2007. There are currently some 363 registered political parties in the UK.

The information sought is not collected by the Ministry of Justice. The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) requires each registered party to submit annual accounts to the Electoral Commission, the format and content of which varies according to the total income or gross expenditure incurred by a party or accounting unit. Parties are also required to report donations to the Electoral Commission each year. Details of all donations of more than £5,000 accepted by the party HQ and all donations of more than 1,000 accepted by a party accounting unit must be reported.

The parties' donation reports, accounts and campaign expenditure returns are all published by the Commission and are available to view on their website.