Government’s Planned Election Spending Limit Hike Will Benefit Conservatives

The Conservative Party is planning a 69% increase in spending limits for the next General Election – re-igniting the funding ‘arms race’ between major political parties, which was halted in 2000 when a £20 million limit was imposed by the Labour Government.

The Government announced the proposed change in a written answer in the House of Commons just before Christmas. It could see the ceiling for individual party election spending raised from £20 million to £34 million.

The limit was introduced by Tony Blair’s Government after Conservative Party spending soared from £100,000 in 1974 to £27 million in 1997 – in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Labour winning a landslide in that year’s General Election.

The Electoral Commission, has shown “that increasing national party expenditure limits would benefit only the Conservative Party across Great Britain”.

“Taking these together with other proposals under consideration, but not widely known, to allow national party spending to be targeted more easily at marginal constituencies, are the Government not now ending any concept of the level playing field in elections?” he asked.

Full story at Byline Times