Electoral Commission strategy and policy statement
The UK Government has announced it intends to abolish the power for the government to set a strategy and policy statement for the Electoral Commission.
The Electoral Commission is an independent body responsible for regulating political finance and overseeing elections across the UK. It is independent of government, but it is accountable to the UK Parliament through the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, and to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru in relation to devolved elections.
The Speaker’s Committee scrutinises the commission’s financial plans, business planning, appointment of commissioners, and monitors its performance in relation to the strategy and policy statements issued by the UK Government.
The strategy and policy statementThe Elections Act 2022 introduced a new strategy and policy statement, to be set by the UK Government and the requirement that the Electoral Commission should ‘have regard to’ to that statement. The statement could not include reference to devolved matters where the Electoral Commission was accountable to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd.
The proposal to introduce the statement was widely criticised. The commission itself warned that allowing government to guide its work undermined its essential independence.
During the passage of the legislation through Parliament, the Labour Party warned that having a statement set by the government would allow political interference with the commission’s work.
Consultation on the first strategy and policy statement drew further criticism, with the Levelling Up Committee warning it could damage public confidence and concluding that no statement was necessary.
The first strategy and policy statement was designated on 29 February 2024.
The current government issued a policy paper on elections in July 2025. It included proposals to extend the role of the Electoral Commission in relation to regulation of political finance. At the time the government said it intended to revise the commission’s strategy and policy statement “in light of these new responsibilities”.
The Representation of the People Bill 2024-26, introduced in the House of Commons on 12 February 2026, would make provision for extending the commission’s role. The bill as introduced made no mention of the strategy or policy statement.
During the second reading debate on the bill the government announced it would “repeal in full the power for Government to impose a strategy and policy statement on the Electoral Commission”.
The Electoral CommissionThe Electoral Commission was established in 2001 by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA). It operates independently of government but is accountable to the UK Parliament in relation to most of its functions by way of the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission.
The commission is also accountable to (and part funded by) the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. This relates to devolved elections where the devolved parliaments have tasked the commission with a role.
Library briefing, The Electoral Commission, gives more information on the work of the commission.
CommissionersThe commission is led by ten commissioners, including a chair.
Five commissioners, including the chair, are independent and cannot be a member of a political party or have worked for one within the five years before appointment. Three of them have responsibility for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Four commissioners are known as ‘nominated commissioners’ and are put forward by the political parties. Three are put forward by the leaders of the three largest nominating parties, and the fourth is appointed from candidates put forward by the other parties.
The Speaker’s CommitteeThe Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission is a statutory committee. It is responsible for ensuring that the Electoral Commission is operating economically, efficiently and effectively. The committee has a duty to scrutinise and approve the commission’s annual financial estimate, business plan and five-year plan, and oversee the selection of commissioners.
The committee is also responsible for assessing how the Electoral Commission is performing in relation to the strategy and policy statement. The commission wrote to the committee in February 2025 reporting on its requirement to have regard to the statement.
Work of the commissionThe commission regulates and enforces the political finance rules created by PPERA. Regulated political donations and loans must only come from a permissible source. Donations and loans to political parties are regulated if they are over £500. The level for donations to individual candidates at an election is £50.
A permissible source is someone registered to vote in the UK or a UK-based company or organisation. The rules differ in Northern Ireland where most Irish-based companies and organisations are permissible donors to political parties and campaigners in Northern Ireland registered with the Electoral Commission.
The Electoral Commission also regulates national campaign spending by political parties and registered non‑party campaigners during elections or referendums. Spending by local candidates is regulated separately under the Representation of the People Act 1983 and enforced by the police and prosecuting authorities.
The commission has powers to investigate breaches and require compliance with the rules in PPERA. It may issue civil fines to regulated individuals or organisations. Serious offences can be referred to the police and may be dealt with through the courts. Some offences can only be prosecuted through the courts.
The strategy and policy statementThe Committee on Standards in Public Life reviewed the regulation of political finance in 2021. The focus of its recommendations was on political finance, but the committee made some observations about the governance and oversight of the Electoral Commission.
Most of the contributors to the review “were broadly confident in the commission as an independent, non-partisan regulator” but the committee also heard some criticisms over the Electoral Commission’s alleged lack of impartiality, that it provided unclear and inconsistent advice, and for delaying investigations.
In June 2021, the then government announced it would introduce a strategy and policy statement, to be set by the UK Government, for the Electoral Commission. The government said:
In recent years, some across the House have lost confidence in the work of the Commission and have questioned the adequacy of the existing accountability structures.
The provisions were included in the bill that went on to become the Elections Act 2022.
The proposal was criticised by the Electoral Commission. The commissioners wrote to the then government:
It is our firm and shared view that the introduction of a Strategy and Policy Statement – enabling the Government to guide the work of the Commission – is inconsistent with the role that an independent electoral commission plays in a healthy democracy. This independence is fundamental to maintaining confidence and legitimacy in our electoral system.
During the passage of the legislation Labour supported an amendment in the House of Lords at report stage to remove the strategy policy and statement requirements from the bill. The then shadow minister in the House of Lords, Baroness Hayman of Ullock said:
As other noble Lords have said, this would allow political interference in the regulation of our elections and calls into question the independence of the Electoral Commission from government and political control. This simply cannot be allowed to happen.
The government rejected this position, saying the commission would remain operationally independent and:
This duty does not allow the Government to direct the work of the commission, nor does it undermine the commission’s other statutory duties.
The House of Lords amendment was successful. During the ping pong stage of the bill the House of Commons overturned the Lords and reinstated the requirement for a strategy and policy statement.
The statement cannot refer to matters relating to devolved elections; those where the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd Cymru have legislative competence to make the rules.
Parliamentary procedureWhen the government amended the bill during ping pong to reinstate the statement requirement, it did accept an amendment that strengthened parliamentary scrutiny of the draft strategy and policy statement.
The statement is subject to what is called the ‘super-affirmative’ procedure, which Erskine May, the most authoritative guide to Parliamentary procedure, describes as “an exceptionally high degree of scrutiny” of delegated legislation.
Under the super-affirmative procedure, the government is required to publish a document that outlines the proposed statement. This provides both Houses with opportunities to comment on the proposals and to recommend amendments before the introduction in Parliament of the draft statement.
The draft statement, once introduced, must be approved by both Houses of Parliament before the government can designate the final statement.
The first draft statement was published in August 2022. During the consultation period on the draft statement, concerns were raised again about its impact on the Electoral Commission’s independence.
The Levelling Up Committee said it was concerned that the statement risked damaging the independence of the Electoral Commission and undermining public confidence in the democratic process. It concluded that:
…no Statement is necessary at the current time: and no evidence has been provided justifying it. However, if there is to be a Statement, the current draft needs to be fundamentally rewritten.
It went on to say, “we consider that any outsider reading the Statement would infer that the Government considered the Commission was not functioning as well as it should be”.
In evidence to the Levelling Up Committee inquiry on the draft statement, the Electoral Commission’s chair, John Pullinger, said if the government think the Electoral Commission’s independence is important, then “the best way to demonstrate it is to not proceed with the strategy and policy statement.”
The government responded to and revised its proposals in June 2023. The 60-day period for representations on the draft ended on 14 September 2023.
The Speaker’s Committee welcomed the changes made by the government that “clarified some of the misguided and confused wording of the initial draft Statement” but said the government had still not “put forward a cogent or persuasive explanation for why a statement is needed”. It also warned the revised statement was “incompatible with the Commission’s operational independence” and “will not help us in our work to scrutinise the effectiveness of the Commission, as the Government claims”.
The final draft of the statement was laid in Parliament 14 December 2023 and approved by the House of Commons on 31 January 2024.
The then Labour shadow minister, Florence Eshalomi MP, expressed concern about the independence of the commission:
the contents of the statement completely undermine the Electoral Commission, representing a dangerous threat to the independence of a vital watchdog. MPs from all parties have condemned it and respected bodies have rejected it.
The statement was designated on 29 February 2024.
Representation of the People Bill 2024-26The Representation of the People Bill 2024-26 was introduced in the House of Commons on 12 February 2026 and had its second reading on 2 March 2026.
The bill would implement many of the policy objectives in the UK Government’s election strategy policy paper, published in July 2025. Measures included extending the enforcement remit of the Electoral Commission to individual candidate spending. This would give the commission the power to apply its civil sanctioning powers to candidates regulated by the Representation of the People Act 1983, which currently can only be enforced by the police and prosecuting authorities.
In the policy paper the government said it would revise the commission’s strategy and policy statement:
In light of these new responsibilities, the government intends to designate a new Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission to reflect the government’s priorities for elections and the Commission’s increased roles and responsibilities.
However, the Representation of the People Bill as introduced made no mention of the strategy and policy statement as required by the Elections Act 2022.
In response the Electoral Commission again reiterated its opposition to the existence of the requirements of the 2022 act:
Public confidence in elections also depends on the system being fair, transparent and independent. For that reason, the Commission remains opposed to the Strategy and Policy Statement introduced by the Elections Act 2022. It will continue to make the case for non-partisan accountability to Parliament.
During the second reading debate on the bill, the government announced that it would abolish the strategy and policy statement:
We recognise the importance of maintaining confidence in the commission’s operational independence and ensuring it can carry out its statutory duties effectively, so we will repeal in full the power for Government to impose a strategy and policy statement on the Electoral Commission.
To achieve this the government would need to introduce amendments during its passage through parliament.
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