Political Parties: Finance

While it is clear that foreign donations to political parties are not permitted, the Government recognises the risk posed by malign actors who seek to interfere with and undermine our democratic processes.

As pledged in our manifesto, we are strengthening the rules around donations to political parties. We have published our ‘Strategy for Modern and Secure Elections’ which sets out a number of reforms we are making to strengthen rules on political donations, responding to the threat of foreign interference. These include “Know Your Donor” requirements for recipients of donations and tighter controls on unincorporated association donations.

We are also tightening the rules to ensure greater scrutiny of the origin and nature of political donations. Donors will be required to declare any benefits or sources of funding associated with their donation. In addition, companies making donations will be required to demonstrate a genuine and substantive connection to the UK or Ireland, preventing the use of shell companies to channel foreign or illicit money into UK politics.