Where do parties get their money?
The nutshell
Political parties need money to run and to campaign. Most of it comes from members' fees and from donations, and some parties also get help from public money.
Every fact on this page comes from official rules on party money and non-partisan explainers. Each source tag — like IfG — opens where a fact comes from.
The basics
What parties spend money on
A political party is an organised group that wants to run the country or a council. Running a party costs money — for staff, offices, leaflets and adverts, and for campaigns at election time.
Where the money comes from
Most party money comes from members' fees and from donations. A donation is a gift of money to a party, given by a person, a company or a trade union.IfG Some parties also receive a smaller amount of public money from the state.
The rules that keep it open
There are rules about party money. A big donation must be reported to the Electoral Commission — the body that checks election and party money.EC The Commission then puts these donations on a public list, so anyone can see who gave money to a party.
Public money for parties
The state gives parties some money too, but not a lot. One example is Short Money. It helps opposition parties — the parties that are not in government — with the cost of working in Parliament.HoC
- Donations let parties raise money from members and backers, without much cost to taxpayers, according to the Institute for Government
- Big donations must be reported to the Electoral Commission and listed in public, so the money can be traced
- Only a permissible donor — such as a person on a UK electoral register or a UK-registered company — is allowed to give money to a party, the Institute for Government notes
- Much of the money comes from large donations, so wealthy donors and big organisations can play a large part, the Institute for Government records
- Only donations above a set amount are reported, so smaller gifts do not appear on the public list one by one, the Electoral Commission notes
- Public funding is limited and mainly supports opposition parties, so most parties depend heavily on private money, the House of Commons Library records
The deep end6 min
The three main sources of party money
UK political parties raise money in three main ways. Membership fees are the amounts members pay each year to belong. Donations are gifts of money from individuals, companies and trade unions. Public funding is a smaller amount of money from the state. The Institute for Government sets out these sources and the rules around them.IfG
A donation cannot come from just anyone. It must come from a permissible source — for example, a person on a UK electoral register, or a company registered in the UK that does business here.IfG
Reporting and the public register
Larger donations and loans have to be reported to the Electoral Commission. Since 1 January 2024, a donation of more than £11,180 to a party's central organisation must be reported, according to the Electoral Commission.EC The Commission publishes what parties report, so a voter, a journalist or a researcher can look up who has funded a party.
Public funding, and how little there is
The state gives parties some public money, but far less than parties raise privately. Short Money, introduced in 1975, helps opposition parties carry out parliamentary work in the House of Commons. For 2025/26 the House of Commons Library records Short Money as £22,853.25 for each seat a party won at the last general election, plus £45.64 for every 200 votes it received.HoC
Other public help exists as well, such as Policy Development Grants, which the Electoral Commission shares between eligible parties to help write policy.IfG Even so, membership fees and donations make up the bulk of most parties' income.