Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her letter to the Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, dated 29 August 2026, what the evidential basis is of the position that spending limits for political parties are too high.

The Government believes an independent assessment is needed of the adequacy of current electoral spending limits. When spending limits were previously raised, the Electoral Commission emphasised it ‘had not seen evidence’ to support the inflation-related changes and that ‘any changes to spending or reporting thresholds must be supported by rigorous analysis, including on the likely impact on public confidence and transparency.’

The Government has therefore asked the Electoral Commission to review registered political party, third-party campaigner and candidate spending limits and provide recommendations by July 2027.

We will not pre-empt the recommendations that the Electoral Commission may make.