BNP's late financial accounting - again

From the Electoral Commission

Main political parties’ financial accounts published

The financial accounts of 11 UK political parties with gross income or total expenditure of £250,000 or over for the year ending 31 December 2008 have been published today by the Electoral Commission, the independent regulator of political finance.

Political parties

The following 11 parties have submitted their accounts to the Commission:

Political Party - - - - - - - Income (£) - - - - - - Expenditure (£)
Co-operative Party [The] - 983,483 - - - - - - - - 1,008,218
Conservative Party - - - -32,361,000 - - - - - - - 31,927,000
Green Party [The] - - - - - - 546,406 - - - - - - - - 540,652
Labour Party [The] - - - -34,012,000 - - - - - - - 26,202,000
Liberal Democrats - - - - - 5,473,256 - - - - - - - - 6,013,956
Plaid Cymru – Party of Wales [The] 998,571 - - - - 678,313
Scottish National Party - - 1,768,384 - - - - - - - - 1,700,401
SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party) 291,93 - 290,169
Sinn Féin - - - - - - - - - - - 1,115,391 - - - - - - - - 1,148,992
Ulster Unionist Party - - - - - 383,5043 - - - - - - - - 97,734
United Kingdom Independence Party 602,003 - - 588,570

Accounting units

The following 11 accounting units have submitted their accounts to the Commission:
Conservative Party: Aylesbury
Conservative Party: Cities of London & Westminster
Conservative Party: Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham
Conservative Party: Sutton and Cheam
The Labour Party: Scottish Labour
The Labour Party: National Trade Union Liaison Accounting Unit
Liberal Democrats: ALDC Officers
Liberal Democrats: Bury
Liberal Democrats: England
Liberal Democrats: Parliamentary Office of the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats: Scotland

The full statements of account are available here.

Regulatory Action

The British National Party and the party’s Regional Accounting Unit were both granted an extension to the deadline for submitting their statements of accounts. Both have failed to deliver their accounts within the extended deadline so the party will be fined a minimum of £500 and the accounting unit will be fined a minimum £100, this figure will increase if the accounts are more than three months late.

Peter Wardle Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission said: “Political parties play a crucial part in our democracy. But, now more than ever, voters need to be confident that party funding is transparent and that parties will comply with the law.

“While we are disappointed that the British National Party and its accounting unit have failed to submit their accounts on time, I’m glad to see that the majority of the large parties and accounting units have understood the need to ensure their accounts are submitted to us by the deadline set. Transparency about party finances is one of the key factors that can help public confidence in politics.”

In May, the Commission published the financial accounts of 281 political parties and 483 accounting units whose gross income and total expenditure were each £250,000 or less.

Accounting units with income and expenditure that are both £25,000 or under are not required to submit their accounts.

The Commission has published a comparison of the parties’ gross annual income and total expenditure from 2003 to 2008. This is available on our website.

The Commission is currently reviewing all the accounts submitted. Where this review suggests that there may have been any breaches of the law we will raise this with the parties and where necessary use our regulatory powers.