Question

To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if he will list the enforcement cases in relation to foreign donors channelling funds through UK-registered corporate bodies on which the Electoral Commission has made a ruling in the last ten years.

Information on all concluded investigations dating back to April 2020 is listed on the Commission's website. Information on investigations which concluded prior to April 2020 can be found using the National Archives website.

The Commission's guidance sets out which donors are permissible. If a company is registered at Companies House, incorporated in the UK, and 'carrying on business' in the UK, it can donate to a UK political party or campaigner.

However, it is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false declaration about the true origin of a donation. If a donor was to mislead a political party as to the true source of the donation to evade permissibility requirements then they could be committing an offence. Any investigation would fall within the remit of the police, not the Electoral Commission.

Companies do not currently need to show that they have made enough money in the UK to fund their donations. Since 2013, the Commission has recommended changes to ensure parties cannot accept money from companies that have not made enough in the UK to fund their donation or loan.