Royal Assent
Monarch's formal approval converting a bill into an Act of Parliament.
The Representation of the People Bill passed Third Reading in the Commons in the week of 14 July 2026 but still awaits Lords stages, so its crypto-donation ban runs only as a government moratorium, not as law under Royal Assent.
Last refreshed: 3 August 2026
When will the revived Representation of the People Bill finally receive Royal Assent?
Timeline for Royal Assent
Mentioned in: Crypto donation ban backdated to March
UK Local Elections 2026Mentioned in: ap Iorwerth's six-power Wales Bill ask
UK Local Elections 2026Mentioned in: RPA Bill stranded, FCA review without probe
UK Local Elections 2026Mentioned in: How English mayors got the transfer vote back
UK Local Elections 2026RPA Bill misses the wash-up window
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Royal Assent is the formal mechanism by which the Sovereign approves an Act of Parliament, converting it from a bill passed by both Houses into statute law. In practice, Royal Assent has not been withheld since 1708 and is granted either in person at a ceremonial session of Parliament or, more commonly today, through written notification under the Royal Assent Act 1967.
The date of Royal Assent is legally significant because it marks the commencement point for many statutory obligations. The mechanism's ordinary operation is visible elsewhere in the same session: the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April, restoring the Supplementary Vote for English mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections from 18 June, a straightforward passage the Representation of the People Bill has not matched.
The Representation of the People Bill, by contrast, has spent over a year without receiving Assent: excluded from the 29 April wash-up, omitted from the 13 May King's Speech, and still awaiting Lords stages after clearing Commons Third Reading in mid-July. Its crypto-donation ban currently exists only as an Electoral Commission moratorium, not as statute.
Assent still waits on the Lords
Parliament first amended the Representation of the People Bill on 25 March 2026 to ban crypto donations, but the Bill missed the 29 April wash-up and was Left off the King's Speech's 27-bill programme, so it carried into a further session with Christopher Harborne's £12 million Cryptocurrency gifts to Reform UK still outside any statutory return window.
The Bill returned in July, reaching Report stage and Third Reading in the Commons in the week of 14 July. Housing Secretary Steve Reed's amendment banning any crypto donation was matched by the Electoral Commission confirming a moratorium retrospective to 25 March, rather than the 30-day-from-Assent mechanism this page previously tracked; Labour backbencher Liam Byrne's NC34 pushes for a permanent statutory ban instead. Royal Assent itself has not been granted; the Bill must still clear the Lords.