Question

To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 24503 on Political Parties: Finance, whether the Electoral Commission has issued guidance on the permissibility of donations from UK subsidiaries acting as agents for overseas parent companies.

Under electoral law, while most UK companies are permissible donors, if a UK company acted as an agent for a donation by a foreign company, this donation would be impermissible. If a person or organisation makes a donation on behalf of another without disclosing this, they would be committing an offence.

The Commission has published guidance on permissable sources and on donations made on behalf of another person or organisation. This states that recipients must take all reasonable steps to identify the true donor and ensure that they are a permissable source.