The countdown to the 2026 Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru elections has reached an important milestone: the start of the regulated period on 7th January 2026. If you’re involved in campaigning work around these elections, in an increasingly turbulent political landscape, and weaponisation of regulation, it’s important to be aware of what spending, donations and reporting laws apply during this period under the non-party campaigning regime.

There are two primary sets of rules: the general campaigning rules and the local campaigning rules.

General Campaigning Rules

What is covered?

Often referred to as the ’Lobbying Act’, the general campaigning rules regulate spending on most activities which ‘can reasonably be regarded as intended to promote or procure electoral success at any relevant election’ for:

  • one or more particular political parties;
  • one or more political parties which advocate (or do not advocate) particular policies, or which otherwise fall within a particular category of parties; or
  • candidates who hold (or do not hold) particular opinions or who advocate (or do not advocate) particular policies, or who otherwise fall within a particular category of candidates.

This is often known as the ‘purpose test’. It is not necessary to name a party or type of candidate in your campaign materials – advocacy material could meet the purpose test if it is positive or negative about a policy that is closely connected with a particular political party, close to the election, for example, in such a way that a reasonable person might think you are really calling for the public to vote for or against that party.

If your activity passes this test and is public facing, it is likely to be caught by this test – and is called regulated activity.

How much can I spend?

If you are eligible to register, you can spend up to £10,000 in Wales or £10,000 in Scotland on regulated activity during the regulated period before registering with the Electoral Commission to spend more than this.

Registered non-party campaigners can spend up to £30,000 in Wales and up to £75,800 in Scotland during the regulated period on regulated campaign activities. Registered non-party campaigners must report their spending and donations to the Electoral Commission after the relevant elections.

However, only eligible organisations can register – and organisations which are not eligible to register, including overseas organisations, cannot spend more than [£700] in the regulated period.

These general campaigning rules do not apply to local government elections across the UK.

Local Campaigning Rules

What is covered?

If you are campaigning for or against one or more individual candidates at a Senedd or Scottish parliamentary election, you will be covered by the local campaigning rules. As opposed to the general campaigning rules which are overseen by the Electoral Commission, local campaigning breaches are overseen by the police. You should consider whether your campaigning is caught by the local campaigning rules as well as the general campaigning rules.

How much can I spend?

In Wales, non-party campaigners can spend up to £1,000 on campaigning for or against one or more individual candidates in a constituency. In Scotland, non-party campaigners can spend up to £500 on campaigning for or against one or more individual candidates in a constituency, or one or more independent regional candidates.

Different limits apply to local government elections across the UK, which are also subject to these local campaigning rules.

Charity Law

Many campaigners will be non-charitable non-profits, but many will have charitable status, or receive charitable funding. A fundamental principle of charity law is that charitable assets cannot be used to support or oppose a political party or candidate. This doesn’t prevent charities or campaigners funded by charities campaigning on issues related to their charitable missions, but it is important to consider the risk of campaigns being perceived as party political.

Bates Wells can help you to navigate these rules and maximise the impact of your campaign activity ahead of the May 2026 election – please do get in touch to discuss.

We recently hosted a webinar on “Campaigning and advocacy: navigating the new political landscape” – where, together with guest speakers from Electoral Commission, we explored these issues in more detail, with case studies. If you would like to watch a recording of the webinar, please reach out to Suhan or Max.

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The material in this article is provided for guidance and general information only and is not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice upon which you should rely. In particular, the information should not be used as a substitute for a full and proper consultation with a suitably qualified professional. Please do contact the Bates Wells team if you require further information