Party Watch
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Party Watch is the successor to the New Politics Network's Cleanpolitix initiative.
Who Funds Who? our online database of donors and political parties, can be found here.
Glossary
AU or accounting unit - the local or national office of a party that is the legal recipient of a donation.
Campaign group - any group which draws its membership entirely or mostly from members of the political party has to register and record its donations into paragraph
Cranborne Money - public funds provided to opposition parties in the House of Lords to fund parliamentary duties
Department of Finance and Administration - the government department responsible for allocating existing public funds to the political parties.
Exempt trust - donations from trusts that have been created by permissible donors, or which were formed before 27th July 1999 are classified as coming from permissible donors. All other trusts are excluded, to close a loophole for foreign donations
Impermissible donors - includes foreign companies and anonymous givers, not covered by the list of permissible donors in the PPERA: these gifts have to be returned or failing that, surrendered to the Electoral Commission
Permissible donors - donations can only be accepted from individuals who are on an electoral register in the UK, or from the following organisations if they are registered and operating in the UK: registered political parties, companies, trade unions, building societies, limited liability partnerships, unincorporated associations and friendly, industrial or provident societies
PPERA - Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 is the main law covering the donations to political parties.
Section 62 - when the total of small donations given at different times or two different branches of a party passes the threshold, they are reported under this heading by the central party
Short Money - public funds provided to opposition parties in the House of Commons to fund parliamentary duties. Also provides funds for running the office of the Leader of the Opposition
Third Party - an organisation or individual that campaigns in an election but is not seeking election. Third Parties must be registered and must submit their campaign expenditure and the receipt of donations to the Electoral Commission.
Unincorporated Associations - are associations of people who have come together to achieve a common purpose, set out in a constitution. They cost nothing to establish, and are very quick to set up. Unlike an incorporated body (eg Limited Company) the Unincorporated Association has no legal existence or personality separate from its individual members. This guarantees the members of the association privacy as they do not have to register with Companies House and no outside organisations are involved.
FAQ
Who funds you?
Party Watch is a project of the New Politics Network, an independent think tank that aims to reconnect people and politics. It's predecessor cleanpolitix.com was established by a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd.
Where do the figures come from?
Our database is copied from the spreadsheets available on the Electoral Commission's web site. Figures are available from February 2001 onwards and fresh data is made available about six weeks after the end of each quarterly period.
While every effort is taken to be as accurate as possible in the transfer of information from the Electoral Commission's records to our own database, mistakes are possible. In the case of individual donors, the Electoral Commission does not provide address information, making confirmation of identity problematic. If you know an entry to be incorrect, or if one of our profiles is inaccurate or out of date, please let us know and we will correct it as soon as possible.
Why is there nothing about Northern Ireland parties?
There are as yet no entries for the Northern Ireland parties, as there is a four-year breathing space before a decision is taken on whether the provisions of the PPERA 2000 requiring donations to be published should extend to Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Office is presently conducting a consultation on if and how the Act should be applied to Northern Ireland. More information can be found at the NIO's website, the consultation closes on 30.09.2005.
Where does the information for your profiles come from?
For Labour donations, we have used the excellent Red Star Research web site as much as possible. Information about Eurosceptic donors has been drawn from the list of Anti-Europeans on the Britain in Europe web site. Labour Research Magazine, has been a useful source for details of long-term backers. Where possible, we have linked to reliable sources already available on the Web such as the BBC and Guardian.
Are you connected to any of the parties?
The New Politics Network is not affiliated to any political party. The Network seeks to work with people across the political divide to help strengthen our democracy. The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd which has funded this site has been a major financial backer of the Liberal Democrats, but has also supporting progressive groups within Labour and the Conservative party.
How can I get involved?
E-mail your friends and colleagues about this site. If you have any information to contribute to the profiles of major donors, simply click on the 'edit' tab at the top of the relevant page and add your information (please make a note of our submissions policy however).
What do you hope to achieve?
There is so much in the media about party funding at the moment that some sort of change seems to be inevitable. We think it is important that a system where people are put off of politics by large private donations is not replaced by an equally alienating system of block grants from the Treasury that have no bearing on public involvement.
How can I find out who is giving money to my MP?
Donations to MPs to help with their political work are listed on the database in the Who Funds Who section. Consultancy fees paid to MPs for advising companies, and all other earnings from outside interests are listed in the House of Commons - Register of Members Interests.
Where is the proof that donations are buying influence?
There have been no proven cases of a political party in Britain changing its policy as a direct result of a donation received. The problem is twofold however:
- Perceptions count: the system we have now has been held up as a model for reform in parliaments across the world, but it still allows the media to portray politicians as corrupt.
- While there may not be direct link between donations and policy, wealthy donors have access to politicians - and subsequently an opportunity to place issues onto the agenda - that ordinary members of the public do not.
What is Clean Money?
The phrase "Clean Money" has been used by many campaigners in the UK and in the United States as a shorthand for replacing big donations, particularly those from corporate sources and lobby groups, with smaller more democratic sums of money drawn from a wider range of sources. Read what we mean by Clean Money by visiting the petition section of the site.
Got a question about this site or issues around party funding which isn't answered here? E-mail us on info@new-politics.net or add your suggestion at Talk:Party Watch and we will do our best to answer.
