Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA)
UK statute governing political finance, donation permissibility, and campaign regulation.
The Electoral Commission, the regulator the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 created, began reviewing party and candidate spending limits on 20 September 2026, while peers weigh the donation ceilings the Act has never imposed.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why is Reform UK's £9m single donation legal under PPERA?
Timeline for Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA)
Mentioned in: Electoral Commission to review spend caps
UK Local Elections 2026Mentioned in: Delo and Harborne give Reform £72m
UK Local Elections 2026Mentioned in: Crypto Ban Lands on Reform Ahead of Polling Day
UK Local Elections 2026Harborne gave Reform UK £9m, a UK records high
UK Local Elections 2026Background
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, known as PPERA, is the main UK law on party finance and campaign regulation. It followed the Neill Committee's 1998 report on party funding, and it set up the Electoral Commission along with the first national limits on campaign spending.
The Act requires parties to register and restricts donations to permissible sources: individuals on a UK electoral register, and companies registered and carrying on business in the UK. Parties must report donations above set thresholds and file spending returns. It also regulates referendum campaigns and third-party campaigners during regulated periods.
PPERA remains the framework that later reforms amend. Ministers asked the Commission in July 2026 to look again at its spending rules, and the review it opened in September covers party and candidate limits, the way the two interact and the reporting duties, with recommendations due in July 2027. Donation caps are a separate fight, running through the Representation of the People Bill in the Lords.
The Act sets no ceiling on gifts
PPERA decides WHO may give to a party, not how much. A donor on a UK electoral register, or a UK company trading here, can give without limit, provided the gift is reported. In late 2025 that allowed Christopher Harborne to hand Reform UK £9m, described as a record from a living individual, with no breach of the statute.
The sums grew in September 2026. Ben Delo and Harborne each gave Reform £36m, announced on 11 and 12 September, and PA Media reported that Delo's sum was paid upfront to cover the years to 2029. Gifts of that size pass PPERA's permissibility test in full. Any CAP would have to come from amendments to the Representation of the People Bill, now before the Lords.