Commentary on Sections Part 2: Political Donations Etc and Expenditure Section 18: Person may not be “responsible person” for more than one third party
87.Section 18 makes amendments to section 88 of the 2000 Act to change the notification requirements that third parties (that is, campaigning entities which are not political parties or candidates seeking election) must comply with.
88.Third parties which spend above the limits set out in section 94(5) of the 2000 Act are required to submit a notification to the Electoral Commission in accordance with section 88 of the 2000 Act. Third parties that submit such a notification become recognised third parties for the purposes of Part 6 of the 2000 Act and are subject to additional regulation and a higher spending limit than those that are not recognised. The responsible person for each third party, as defined by section 85(7) of the 2000 Act, is responsible for compliance with the 2000 Act.
89.Subsection (2) of the section amends subsection (2)(a) of Section 88 of the 2000 Act to provide that an individual who is the responsible person in relation to another recognised third party cannot become a recognised third party in their own right.
90.Subsection (3) of the section inserts subsection (3A) into section 88 of the 2000 Act. This new subsection provides that a notification to the Commission in respect of a third party organisation does not comply with the requirement to name a responsible person, if the responsible person that it names is already the responsible person in relation to another third party (whether as an individual or for another organisation); or an individual who would become a responsible person by virtue of a notification given for another third party at the same time.
91.Subsection (4) of the section makes transitional provision in respect of notifications made before section 18 comes into force. Section 88 of the 2000 Act provides that a third party’s status as a recognised third party lapses 15 months after the original notification is given to the Commission or where that falls within a regulated period before an election, at the end of that period. However, a recognised third party can give a renewal notification to the commission in advance of the notification lapsing. The effect of subsection (4) is that where a notification made prior to the commencement of the amendments to section 88 named a responsible person who is a responsible person for another third party then the renewal notification must, when it is required to be made, name a different responsible person.