Question

To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, for what reason Policy Development Grants will be linked to candidacy from 2025-26; and which political parties responded to the Electoral Commission’s consultation.

The Commission recently consulted Westminster political parties on its proposals to amend the Policy Development Grants Scheme, following eligibility changes after the 2024 UK parliamentary general election.

Parties with at least two sitting members in the House of Commons who have taken the oath of allegiance, are eligible to receive a share of the total available £2m grant. All nine parties are eligible for the grant responded consultation. These were: the Conservative and Unionist Party, Demcratic Unionist Party, Green Party of England and Wales, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, Reform UK, Scottish National Party, and Social Democratic and Labour Party.

The Commission recommended that the second £1m of the £2m total available grant should continue to be divided into pots for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, based on the proportion of the UK electorate living in each nation. Following consultation and the testing of different thresholds, the Commission also recommended that each nation's pot should then be split equally between the eligible parties that stood candidates in at least 50% of the constituencies in the relevent nation at the most recent UK parliamentary general election. It recommended no change to the existing method of allocating the first £1m of the available grant.

The Commission's reasoning was that a 50% threshold would give greater assurance that eligible parties have demonstrated a sufficient connection and commitment to the relevent nation's electorate and a presence within that part of the UK.

The Commission wrote to the parties in November to let them know the outcome of the consultation.