71.Responsibility for the registration of political parties will transfer from the Registrar of Companies (as currently provided for under section 1 of the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998) to the Electoral Commission. The existing single register of political parties will be replaced by two new registers: the Great Britain register and the Northern Ireland register (subsection (2)). A separate register of Northern Ireland parties is required in order to identify those political parties which would attract the special provisions in respect of the control of donations as provided for in any order made under section 70 of the Act.
72.A party registered in the Great Britain register will either be registered throughout the whole of Great Britain or alternatively have its registration confined to one or two parts. The register will also signify whether a party is a minor party, that is a party that intends to contest only parish or community council elections (subsection (3)).
73.A party may be registered in both the Great Britain register and the Northern Ireland register, but in such a case is treated as two separate registered parties (subsection (4)) and must organise its financial affairs in such a way that the affairs of the Great Britain registered party are conducted separately from the Northern Ireland registered party (subsection (5)).
Commentary on Sections Part II: Registration of political parties Section 23 : The new registers