One in four MLAs gave incomplete financial information

One in four politicians elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly last year submitted incomplete financial information about their campaigns – leaving more than £90,000 (€105,000) not correctly accounted for.

Electoral return forms are intended to show how much each candidate spent on their campaign, what they spent it on and where the money came from. Money given to candidates by their party must be declared as a donation and any money spent by the candidate towards their own campaign must also be recorded.

The forms for last May’s Assembly election show Stormont’s 108 MLAs spent £577,180 between them on their election campaigns.

An analysis of the documentation by Belfast news and analysis website The Detail has found more than £90,000 was not correctly accounted for in the breakdown of how 29 MLAs funded their campaigns.

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Inaccurate information

Some MLAs received more money in donations than they spent, while others who had declared donations provided inaccurate or incomplete information on where it came from.

Eight of the DUP’s MLAs failed to properly record where a total of £30,000 in electoral spending had originated from.

The party said it was "regulated by the Electoral Commission and work with them to ensure we are compliant. The vast majority of DUP candidates either self-finance their election campaigns or are supported by the party. It is important that such funds are also properly listed as 'donations' to the campaign."

Three of the SDLP’s elected candidates’ forms had a shortfall totalling almost £20,000. The party said that for a number of years, it had “made representations to the Electoral Commission asking that they amend the wording of the electoral return forms to declare ‘income’ rather than ‘donations’. Many candidates mistakenly believe that self-funding or funding from within the constituency branch of the party is not considered a donation and so do not include it on the forms.”

Clerical error

The forms of eight Alliance Party MLAs failed to accurately record where almost £21,000 of their expenditure came from. A spokesperson said all candidate costs were covered by a donation from the party. “In this case, there was a clerical error, and the notional donation from the party, which pays the expenses, was omitted. However, all information is contained elsewhere on the form.”

Seven of the UUP’s MLAs completed forms with more than £16,000 of their expenditure not correctly accounted for. A spokesperson for the UUP said the party had consulted candidates and agents highlighted as having “discrepancies” in their returns.

“None of the discrepancies indicates anything more sinister than minor counting errors, alongside misreading or misinterpretation of the guidance for the returns, plus the question of ‘notional’ spending . . . All monies can be accounted for and there has been no attempt to conceal funding.”

Election expenses

The Traditional Unionist Voice party recorded spending £3,000 but did not account in the forms for how the money was raised. A spokesperson said that all of its MLA's election expenses were paid by the local TUV Association and they forwarded copies of all original documents relating to the payment.

The Green Party had a shortfall of £100. The party “fully appreciates and supports the rules on candidate election spend. We are disappointed with our small discrepancies, but are certain that the mistakes were both minor and honest in nature”.

More than £4,000 was unaccounted for on the form of one of People Before Profit’s elected candidates. People Before Profit said it had received a high number of donations under £50. “Unfortunately, the election expense returns do not enable a breakdown of these donations, allowing for the appearance of ‘discrepancies’.” The party said in a statement that these donations would have covered any shortfall that appeared on its forms.

The majority of Sinn Féin’s MLAs recorded receiving the exact amount of money they had spent on their campaign in donations from the party. Three Sinn Féin MLAs had accurately recorded how much they had been donated but had inaccurate information on where it had come from. A spokesperson for the party clarified that all their donations had come from Sinn Féin.

Monitored

In Northern Ireland, electoral return forms are monitored by the Northern Ireland Electoral Commission but the commission has no power to undertake investigations where issues have been identified and has no authority to implement sanctions.

Head of the commission in Northern Ireland Ann Watt believes it should be given "investigative and sanctioning powers at major elections for offences relating to candidate spending and donations".

Ms Watt said: “We will be providing advice to candidates at the upcoming Assembly election to ensure that the potential errors identified from the last election are avoided.”