Political Registration in the UK

What is your opinion on the Party Act

Mine is that the party act is more liberal than in some countries. I recommend not to repeal it. It has worked great and compared to countries like the UK where political parties are highly regulated, it is very liberal. I would recommend reading my comment on brickτegos post on the matter. I cut 20 pages to around 3-4 pages.

This is a cut version of Introduction to registering a political party by the UK Electoral Commission

(Came from my Comment on https://www.reddit.com/r/SimDemocracy/comments/fh8wbo/should_we_remove_the_party_act_from_rsimdemocracy/ )

In the UK there is a requirement to have 2 members and these are other requirements:

Application:

Your new party application will need to include:

• your completed application form

• a copy of your party’s constitution

• a copy of your party’s financial scheme that has been adopted by the party

• a non-refundable application fee of £150

Your completed form will include:

• your party name
• descriptions and emblems if you choose to apply to register any
• your party’s headquarter address and contact information
• where you intend to contest elections, for example in Great Britain or Northern Ireland

You will also need to complete declarations on that form by the party officers that:

• the party intends to contest elections
• the party has processes in place to comply with the rules that govern the election and financial activities of parties

In order to be registered, a party must intend to contest elections. For example, the party must intend to have at least one candidate appear for the party on ballot papers in at least one election. As part of the application, you might be asked what the party has done or will do to realise its intention to contest elections. The party must only remain registered as long as it has an intention to contest elections.

Your party must apply for people to be registered for certain official roles. These are:

• a party leader

• a party treasurer – who is responsible for your party’s compliance with the financial rules

• a nominating officer – who will authorise the use of the party’s name, descriptions and emblems on ballot papers

You must have at least two officers for the party. If one person fills all three official roles, you must register someone as an additional officer. This additional officer must hold some specified office or role within the party. The treasurer and nominating officer cannot be the same person unless they are also the leader. You are not required to appoint a treasurer if you are registering a minor party. All of your party officers, including any optional officer roles if you are required to have one, must sign your application form.

Minor parties are only required to register a party leader and nominating officer. You must have at least two people to hold these roles. If one person fills the two official roles, you must register someone as an additional officer.

Unless you are a minor party, you must include a financial scheme for our approval as part of your application. The financial scheme you provide must have been adopted by the party. Your financial scheme demonstrates how your party will comply with the legal requirements of party and election finances under PPERA. Your scheme must include procedures for:

• accounting records

• handling donations and loans

• maintaining your registered details with us

• authorising and reporting on campaign spending You should ensure that all of the proposed registered officers of the party sign the scheme.

Notes:

A party registered in both the Great Britain and the Northern Ireland registers are two separate registered parties for PPERA purposes. Where you are applying to register in both the Great Britain and Northern Ireland registers, your financial scheme must show that the financial affairs of the party in Great Britain will be conducted separately from those of the party in Nothern Ireland. If you use the template scheme, you must ensure that it is amended to reflect this.

This is important because the rules about where a party can obtain its funding from differ depending on which register the party is registered.

Failure to comply with the financial reporting rules set out in PPERA may be a criminal offence which can attract prosecution or civil sanctions, including a fine.

Most parties operate as a single unit. However, you may wish to have party branches. These are called ‘accounting units’ and each unit is responsible for their own finances. Each accounting unit must have their own treasurer and second officer. When you apply, you must tell us if you plan to have accounting units. If your party will have accounting units, our standard template scheme is not suitable. We can provide further advice on what is required, so please contact us.

Financial:

Your financial scheme must reflect how the party is run and manged in relation to the above procedures. If these procedures change, or a person named in the scheme is no longer a registered party officer, you will need to update your financial scheme. If you update your financial scheme you must provide an updated copy to us for approval. If we are not satisfied that your financial scheme sets out the arrangements for regulating the financial affairs of the party for the purposes of PPERA, or that it has been adopted by the party, your application will be rejected.

Constitution:

PPERA requires a party to have a written constitution that sets out the structure and organisation of a party

As part of your application, you must provide your party’s constitution. This should set out the arrangements for your party’s governance and the rules for carrying out its business.

Your constitution must be consistent with the processes and detail of your financial scheme under PPERA. For example, the two documents should agree on how your accounts are signed off and who is responsible for the accounts.

Your constitution must reflect how your party is run and managed. As a guide your constitution should include:

• Details of the register or registers the party is applying to be registered in. A party registered in both the Great Britain and Northern Ireland registers are two separate parties for PPERA purposes. Where a party is applying to register in both the Great Britain and Northern Ireland registers, the party’s financial scheme must show that the financial affairs of the party in Great Britain will be conducted separately from those of the party in Northern Ireland. The constitution should also reflect that.

• The party’s aims and objectives. • A reference to an intention to contest elections and at what type of elections, for example UK parliamentary general elections.

• The candidate selection process (or at least a statement that the party will have one). • The structure of the party and who is responsible for managing the party, including the responsibility of the party officers, the terms of office and procedure for change of those officers.

• How the party will make and record decisions, as well as any other governance arrangements. For example the frequency, timing and type of meetings and the quorum for meetings.

• If the party has membership, and if so the process and rules governing that membership.

• That the party have adopted its financial scheme.

• How the constitution can be changed and the process for dissolution of the party.

If your constitution does not include sufficient information about the structure and organisation of your party your application will be rejected. You must also ensure that your constitution and how the party operates complies with equalities law. If you don’t do so, your application will be rejected. You should read the guidance for political parties produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission which is available on their website.

Your constitution should be kept up to date and you must provide us with particulars of any change occurring in your constitution during your annual confirmation of registered details. You also need to provide us with an updated copy whenever you change it.

Party Name, Descriptions and Emblems

As part of your registration application, you must specify a party name. In addition to your name you may also apply to register:

• up to 12 party descriptions

• up to 3 emblems In deciding on what party name, descriptions and emblems to apply to register, you should ensure that you read our guidance on party names, descriptions and emblems.

To help you make your decision, you should search the registers to determine if there are any similar identity marks on the register. If your proposed identity marks are likely to result in voters confusing them with those of another registered party we will not register them.

You should also undertake a search of the internet to see if there are any existing groups or organisations which have a name or logo that is the same as, or similar to, the identity marks that you want to apply to register. We cannot register an identity mark that is likely to result in a voter being misled.

You can apply to change your party name, descriptions, emblems and add joint descriptions at a later date if you wish for an additional non-refundable application fee of £25 per application.

What is a description?

A party description is an optional identity mark that you can register in addition to the party name. A voter must be able to identify your party from the description. For example, a way to do that may be to include the party name in the description. A description cannot be exactly the same as the party name. A description can, depending on the specific election, either act as an alternative to the party name or be used in addition to the party name on the ballot paper. You do not have to register with us any messages that you intend to use in your campaign. You only need to register any description that you intend to use on ballot papers.

What is an emblem?

A party emblem is an optional, visual, black and white representation (or logo) of a party. Your party and its candidates will be able to choose to use one of your emblems on ballot papers at all elections.

What identity marks (names, descriptions and emblems) can’t we register?

As a guide, we cannot register an identity mark that in our opinion:

• is likely to mislead voters as to the effect of their vote
• is the same as another registered identity mark which is on the same register
• is the same as an identity mark from a deregistered party which was on the same register and is protected
• is likely to result in voters confusing it with another party identity mark that is already registered or protected
• is likely to contradict or hinder instructions or guidance given for voting • is obscene or offensive
• contains certain prohibited words
• is, or contains an acronym or abbreviation that is not well known and widely used and not spelt out
• links in any way to online material or contains reference to online content
• contains a reference to a person’s name unless it is a person directly associated with your party
• an emblem that contains text which cannot be read at the size emblems appear on ballot papers (2cm square)
• contains more than six words
• is not in Roman script
• is likely to amount to an offence if published
• You must submit your emblem in black and white

What will appear publicly on the register of political parties once you are registered?

Once registered the following details will be made publicly available online:

• the party’s name • whether you are registered in Great Britain or Northern Ireland

• date of registration

• if registered in Great Britain whether you intend to contest elections in England, Scotland and/or Wales

• the party’s descriptions (if any)

• the party’s emblems (if any) • the party officers’ names

• the party’s head office address. As this information will be publicly available, if using your home address you may wish to consider using a PO Box or other address

Courtesy of the UK electoral commission

Original document here: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_file/intro-registration-rp.pdf