Political Parties (Funding)

HC Deb 17 July 1990 vol 176 cc495-6W

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the information available to him on the systems of state funding for political parties in the Group of Seven countries.

Mr. Maude

The following is a summary of information currently available:

(a) Canada The Treasury reimburses registered political parties 22.5 per cent. of allowable election expenses and parliamentary candidates 50 per cent. of expenses up to a maximum of 50 per cent. of the total permitted, subject to certain conditions of expenditure incurred and votes received. Political contributions to candidates and political parties benefit from income tax credits. Parties in Parliament receive funds for research staff budgets, office supplies and certain support services.

(b) France Under new legislation parties will receive funding for legislative and presidential election campaigns, subject to conditions of parliamentary representation, contesting at least 75 constituencies and opening their accounts to scrutiny. Funds will be allocated proportionate to the number of seats held in Parliament and the number of votes won in the first rounds of the most recent legislative elections.

(c) FRG At general elections each party is reimbursed DM 5.00 per eligible voter voting for it, subject to its publishing its accounts. The reimbursement may not exceed half a party's revenues, but under certain conditions deductions may be made from the next reimbursement, and parties may receive advances of reimbursement. Similar arrangements apply to elections to the European Parliament and in the Federal Laender.

(d) Italy Subject to certain conditions of parliamentary representation or votes received at the most recent general election and to opening their accounts, parties receive an annual subvention. The amount is calculated by complex rules reflecting recent electoral performance. In 1990 the largest grants were to the Christian Democrats (25.7 million lire), Communists (17.8 million) and Socialists (11.6 million).

(e) Japan There is no formal state funding of political parties but political groups represented in the Diet receive a monthly sum of 605,000 yen per Dietman.

(f) United States For presidential elections, a voluntary public financing system provides, subject to certain conditions, matching funds to candidates in primaries and to party nominees in the general election and flat grants to parties for their nominating conventions. (In 1988 the national spending limit for pre-nomination campaigns within which matching funds were available was 23.1 million dollars plus 4.6 million dollars for fund-raising; the maximum subsidy for the two major parties' nominating conventions was 9.2 million dollars; and the maximum subsidy for the general election (subject to no additional funds being raised or spent by the candidate) was 46.1 million dollars. As for congressional elections, until recently no public funding was available, but some states are beginning to experiment with a matching fund system. Some states and cities provide public funding for state and municipal elections; others do not.