Representation of the People Act 1985
Act raising the parliamentary deposit to £500 and cutting its retention threshold to 5%.
The Representation of the People Act 1985 set the £500 deposit and 5% threshold every candidate faces, including the 15 on the ballot for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on 8 October 2026.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Representation of the People Act 1985
Set the £500 deposit and 5% threshold
UK Local Elections 2026: Mentioned in: Holborn's by-election puts 15 on the ballotBackground
The Representation of the People Act 1985 received Royal Assent on 16 July 1985. Section 13 raised the deposit a parliamentary candidate must lodge from £150 to £500, and cut the share of the vote needed to get it back from one-eighth to one-twentieth, or 5%. The Act also let British citizens living abroad register as overseas electors, and widened access to postal and proxy voting.
The 1985 increase was meant to deter frivolous candidates. Crowded ballots have returned all the same. The Holborn and St Pancras by-election, in the seat Keir Starmer used to hold, has 15 names on Camden Council's official list for polling day on 8 October 2026.
In August 2026 the Clacton by-election carried 34 names, most of them minor parties, after the main parties chose not to stand against Nigel Farage. Each of those candidates paid the 1985 Act's £500 deposit.