Commentary on Sections Part 4 - Supplementary Section 46: Transitional provision
160.The Act amends the third party controlled expenditure limits (section 28), impacts on expenditure which counts towards the spending limit of a registered political party (section 30), introduces constituency spending limits (section 29), widens the scope of campaign expenditure (section 26 and Schedule 3) and requires third parties to publish a statement of their accounts (section 35). This section ensures that these changes will apply for future regulated periods (which operate in relation to UK Parliamentary General elections and elections to the European Parliament and the devolved legislatures) and will also apply for the regulated period for the next UK Parliamentary General election.
161.Ordinarily, the regulated period for a UK Parliamentary General election starts 365 days before the election. However, where that period overlaps with a regulated period for an election to the European Parliament or a devolved legislature, a longer combined period is substituted. In the absence of this provision, this would have happened for the next UK Parliamentary General election, the date for which has been fixed as 7 May 2015 by section 1(2) of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, as an election for the European Parliament is due to be held on 22 May 2014. Section 46 however makes provision to deal with this situation by creating bespoke regulated periods that will apply only in relation to the next UK Parliamentary General election.
162.The regulated period for third parties (“the Schedule 10 transitional period”).will begin on 19 September 2014 and will run until the date of the parliamentary general election. The regulated period for political parties (“the Schedule 9 transitional period”) will begin on 23 May 2014, and will run until the date of the UK Parliamentary General election.
163.Subsection (7) provides that the transitional period does not apply in relation to the next parliamentary general election if that election takes place before May 2015.
164.Section 46 also allows the Minister to disapply, by order, the provisions for a transitional period should a poll for an extraordinary general election to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales or the Northern Ireland Assembly take place during the course of the regulated UK Parliamentary General election period. In that instance, the Minister may make, by order, alternative transitional provisions.