Political Parties: Finance
The question
To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, with reference to the answer of 28 April 2026 to Question 129174 on Political Parties: Finance, what guidance has been given on whether the corporate sponsorship of events or activity at a party political conference is a commercial transaction that does not need to be declared as a political donation.
Answered by Sir Jeremy Wright
Payments linked to party conferences are considered sponsorship, where one of the purposes of the payment could reasonably be seen to be to help with the costs of the conference. Sponsorship is a type of political donation with permissibility and reporting requirements. Electoral law makes no distinction between commercial and non-commercial sponsorship.
The Commission has prepared updated guidance on sponsorship. It has recently shared the draft update with the Westminster Parliamentary Parties’ Panel for comment, ahead of publishing the guidance in due course.
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