Promoting Political Equality: Spending Limits in British Electoral Law

Abstract

499 SPENDING CONTROLS are an important form of election regulation. They have been adopted (and retained) by a number of countries for one of two reasons: first as a strategy for dealing with electoral corruption, and second as a way of promoting equality of electoral opportunity. So far as the first of these reasons is concerned, the spending limits assist by reducing the money available to spend, thereby containing the money which needs to be raised, thereby in turn relieving the parties of the need to seek larger and larger donations from more and more people. So far as the second of these reasons is concerned, spending limits assist by helping to create a level playing field on which campaigns can be fought without either side having an unfair advantage based on financial resources alone. It is true that spending limits will not eliminate all unfairness in a campaign, but it is also true that they address the concern that economic power should not translate into direct electoral advantage.1 This paper considers the origins, nature, and scope of spending controls in British election law, with the United Kingdom having perhaps the longest continuous experience of this form of regulation. Spending controls apply with variations and qualifications to all British elections, that is to say local government, devolved bodies,2 parliamentary, and European.3 Nevertheless, the main focus of the paper is parliamentary elections. These are the most important, the most hotly contested, and the most expensive, not least because they determine the composition of the national government.4 REGULATORY CHALLENGES