Vijay Rangarajan
Chief executive of the Electoral Commission since 2024, and a former British ambassador to Brazil.
Vijay Rangarajan's Electoral Commission opened a review of campaign spending limits on 20 September 2026 at ministers' request, with him arguing that what parties and campaigners may spend goes to the heart of whether voters trust the rules.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will the Electoral Commission recommend lower spending limits for parties?
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Electoral Commission to review spend caps
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Vijay Rangarajan has been chief executive of the Electoral Commission since 2024. the Commission is the Independent regulator for UK elections and party finance, overseeing party registration, donations and campaign spending.
He came to the POST from the Foreign Office. He was British ambassador to Brazil from 2017 to 2020 and then served as a director general. He also holds a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Cambridge. the Commission answers to Parliament through the Speaker's Committee rather than to ministers, which keeps its chief executive at Arm's length from the government of the day.
In September 2026 he fronted the Commission's review of the campaign spending framework, linking spending levels to public confidence in elections.
Rangarajan ties spending caps to trust
Ministers asked for the review in July 2026, and the Commission launched it on 20 September. It covers the spending ceilings for parties and for candidates, how the two sets of limits interact, and the rules for reporting what is spent, with recommendations due in July 2027. Rangarajan said the amount parties and campaigners can spend "is a significant part" of whether people believe elections are fair.
Donation caps sit outside his review. That argument is running through the Representation of the People Bill, which the Commons passed without a general limit on gifts and which now awaits a Lords committee stage. the Commission's spending advice will therefore arrive after Parliament has settled the donations question.
Who is the chief executive of the Electoral Commission?
What is the Electoral Commission reviewing about party spending?
What did Vijay Rangarajan say about spending limits?
