Why did Liverpool City Council charge £29.80 for copies of nomination papers and consents to nomination for the candidates to be a councillor in the 2018 elections?

Why did Liverpool City Council charge £29.80 for copies of nomination papers and consents to nomination for the candidates to be a councillor in the 2018 elections?

Why did Liverpool City Council charge £29.80 for copies of nomination papers and consents to nomination for the candidates to be a councillor in the 2018 elections?

                                  

Liverpool City Council receipt 25th April 2018 copies nomination papers candidate consent to nomination
Liverpool City Council receipt 25th April 2018 copies nomination papers candidate consent to nomination

On Wednesday morning I carried out an unannounced inspection on the nomination papers and consents to nomination for the candidates currently standing in elections to be a councillor to Liverpool City Council.

These are open to public inspection until 2nd May 2018 during working hours on working days.
Continue reading “Why did Liverpool City Council charge £29.80 for copies of nomination papers and consents to nomination for the candidates to be a councillor in the 2018 elections?”

Can you make this election arithmetic add up?

Can you make this election arithmetic add up?

Can you make this election arithmetic add up?

                                                    

Yesterday’s blog post headlined Frank Field’s election campaign spent £254.40 on balloon gas but what else was money spent on? contained a donations page (which is below).

Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 19
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 19

As you can see above, Wirral Council has removed the names and addresses of the individual donors who donated £100 and £250 to Frank Field’s election campaign.

However the legislation, s.89(1A) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 only allows them to remove addresses of individual donors to candidate’s election campaigns, not the names of individual donors too!

I have e-mailed Wirral Council requesting the names of the donors who donated £100 and £250, which shouldn’t have been blacked out when I inspected the return.

There’s also something declared in the election expenses for Frank Field’s campaign that from a technical legal perspective shouldn’t have been included as election expenses. To stand as a General Election candidate you require a £500 deposit which is refunded if you get 5% of the vote.

Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 13
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 13
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 33
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 33

Obviously Frank Field got more than 5% and the deposit would have been refunded. However section 95ZA subsection 2 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 states

“(2)No election expenses are to be regarded as incurred by virtue of subsection (1) above or section 90C below in respect of any matter specified in Part 2 of Schedule 4A.”

Part 2 (General Exclusions) of Schedule 4A of the Representation of the People Act 1983 states:

7 The payment of any deposit required by rule 9 of Schedule 1 to this Act.

Rules 9 of Schedule 1 relates to the £500 deposit for parliamentary elections and is below for reference.

Deposit

9(1) A person shall not be validly nominated unless the sum of £500 is deposited by him or on his behalf with the returning officer at the place and during the time for delivery of nomination papers.

(2) The deposit may be made either—

(a) by the deposit of any legal tender, or

(b) by means of a banker’s draft, or

(c) with the returning officer’s consent, in any other manner (including by means of a debit or credit card or the electronic transfer of funds) .

but the returning officer may refuse to accept a deposit sought to be made by means of a banker’s draft if he does not know that the drawer carries on business as a banker in the United Kingdom.

(3) Where the deposit is made on behalf of the candidate, the person making the deposit shall at the time he makes it give his name and address to the returning officer (unless they have previously been given to him under section 67 of this Act or rule 6(4) above).

However moving on from trivial matters, to the more serious issue of how you split expenses incurred jointly between two campaigns.

Below are the declarations of Phil Davies and his election agent Jean Stapleton about Phil Davies’ election expenses return in Birkenhead and Tranmere stating that to the “best of my knowledge and belief it is a complete and accurate return as required by law”.

Jean Stapleton election expenses declaration Birkenhead and Tranmere 2015
Jean Stapleton election expenses declaration Birkenhead and Tranmere 2015
Phil Davies election expenses declaration Birkenhead and Tranmere 2015
Phil Davies election expenses declaration Birkenhead and Tranmere 2015

There are maximum expenditure limits for local election candidates, which are set at £740 + 6 pence per an elector. As there were 9,525 electors in Birkenhead and Tranmere this means the maximum expenditure limit comes to £740 + (£0.06 times 9,525) = £1,311.50 . You can see this amount used for Phil Davies’ election expenses return below.

Election expenses return Birkenhead and Tranmere 2015 Phil Davies
Election expenses return Birkenhead and Tranmere 2015 Phil Davies

Spending over these limits is classed as an illegal practice, see section 76 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and if the candidate and/or agent “knew or ought reasonably to have known that the expenses would be incurred in excess of that maximum amount” then a court can find them guilty of an illegal practice and they could be barred from standing in the by-election that would result.

The total spent by Phil Davies’ campaign as declared on the election expenses return was £1,266.17 as you can see from this page below.

Election expenses total spending Birkenhead and Tranmere Phil Davies 2015
Election expenses total spending Birkenhead and Tranmere Phil Davies 2015

Electoral Commission guidance (see the bottom of page 81 here states on the issue of splitting expenses:

The honest assessment principle

5.19 In all cases you should make an honest assessment, based on the facts, of the proportion of expenditure that can fairly be attributed to your candidate spending.

5.20 This is important, because when you sign the declaration for your election expenses return, you are confirming that the return is complete and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief.

As part of the campaigns of Frank Field and Phil Davies a joint leaflet was put out and the total costs of £1,511 were split between the two campaigns.

Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 23
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 23

As you can see below £377.75 of the joint leaflet was attributed to Frank Field’s campaign.

Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 22
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 22

The invoice submitted as part of Phil Davies’ election expenses return show that the remaining (£1500 – £377.75) = £1133.55 was split five ways equally between the campaigns for Bidston & James, Birkenhead & Tranmere, Claughton, Prenton and Rock Ferry.

Phil Davies election expenses invoice joint leaflet
Phil Davies election expenses invoice joint leaflet

The portion of this leaflet attributed to Phil Davies’ campaign was £226.65.

However different amounts of leaflets were printed for each area (as you can see on the invoice). 7,263 for Bidston & St. James, 8,055 for Birkenhead and Tranmere, 6,787 for Claughton, 6,974 for Rock Ferry and 6,090 for Prenton.

This total comes to 35,169 leaflets. The proportion for Birkenhead and Tranmere was 8,055. 8,055 divided by 35,169 = 22.9%. 22.9% of £1133.55 = £259.58 (£32.93 higher than the number used when it is instead just split five ways instead).

This wasn’t the only joint leaflet between Frank Field’s and Phil Davies’ campaign though. There was also the “Vote Twice” leaflet. As you can see below, £243 of this was attributed to Frank Field’s campaign.

Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 22
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 22

Here’s the invoice for the vote twice leaflet submitted with Phil Davies’ election expenses return.

Phil Davies Birkenhead and Tranmere election expenses vote twice invoice
Phil Davies Birkenhead and Tranmere election expenses vote twice invoice

This is where I can’t even understand how the split used has been arrived at.

£972 – the proportion paid for by Frank Field’s campaign (£243) = £729

The invoice states:

VOTE TWICE leaflets
QTY 3000 CLAUGHTON/PRENTON
QTY 4000 BIDSTON/ROCK FERRY/BIRKENHEAD

Handwritten on the invoice is “BIRKENHEAD & TRANMERE SHARE = £139.80 ONLY DELIVERED 3600 leaflets = £71.90”

If £729 was split five ways it would come out as £145.80 per a ward.
If £729 is split by numbers of leaflets delivered in Birkenhead and Tranmere it would be £729 * (3600/7000) = £374.91.

If the amount for the proportion of leaflets for Bidston/Rock Ferry/Birkenhead (4000) is calculated as 4000/7000 * £729 = £416.57. Then as it’s for three wards it’s divided by three, £416.57/3 = £138.86 (which is near enough to one of the figures used of £139.80).

However this figure (£139.80 would be for 1333 leaflets (4000 divided by 3)). For some bizarre reason 3600/7000 has been used to arrive at a proportion of £138.86 as £71.90. Doing it this way appears to be incorrect (to me anyway as logically if 3600 leaflets were delivered instead of 1333 it should lead to an increased not decreased amount).

If 3600 leaflets were delivered in Birkenhead and Tranmere then the figure should have been (£972 – Frank Field’s share (£243)) * (3600/7000) = £374.91 (£303.10 higher then declared).

The net effect of using of both these calculations under the “honest assessment principle” of sharing costs between these joint leaflets is to increase the expenditure on this campaign by £32.93 + £303.10 = £336.03.

This would make the total expenditure £336.03 + £1,266.17 = £1602.20 (massively above the maximum expenditure limit of £1,311.50).

So who’s got their figures wrong, myself or Phil Davies and his agent?

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Frank Field's election campaign spent £254.40 on balloon gas but what else was money spent on?

Frank Field’s election campaign spent £254.40 on balloon gas but what else was money spent on?

Frank Field’s election campaign spent £254.40 on balloon gas but what else was money spent on?

                                                  

Today I went to Wallasey Town Hall and inspected several candidates’ election returns for the 2015 elections. Below are the pages from Frank Field’s campaign.

Unlike the local election where there is just one period that expenditure and donations need to be declared for, in a General Election there are two periods called “campaigns”. The “long campaign” is from 19th December 2014 to the date the person became a candidate. The “short campaign” is from the date they became a candidate to polling day.

Frank Fields’ campaign spent £31 during the long campaign (£19 on a mobile phone and £12 with WordPress for a website). However during the long campaign he received a £1,000 donation from USDAW (the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers).

During the short campaign £7,651.25 was spent (£1,200 on an advertising wraparound in the Wirral Globe, £4,794.35 on leaflets, £35.50 on taxis, £500 on the deposit, £254.40 on balloon gas, £437 on a market stall, £400 on office space in the Lauries Centre, £30 on topping up the mobile phone (presumably the one bought during the long campaign).

In the short campaign, the Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party donated £6,675.75, the Communication Worker’s Union £90 plus there were also two donations from individuals for £100 and £250. Updated 22nd June 2015: Wirral Council has been in touch and said that the names of the individual donors being blacked out was a mistake. £100 was donated by Ken Tasker and the £250 by Abhii Mantgani. These total £7,115.75.

The difference between expenditure and donations for this period was £535.50 was met by the candidate.

However I will point out that in the short campaign there was still £969 unspent from the donation from USDAW.

The documents submitted as his election expenses returns for the short and long period are below.

Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 1
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 1
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 2
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 2
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 3
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 3
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 4
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 4
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 5
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 5
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 6
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 6
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 7
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 7
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 8
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 8
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 9
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 9
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 10
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 10
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 11
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 11
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 12
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 12
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 13
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 13
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 14
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 14
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 15
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 15
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 16
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 16
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 17
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 17
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 18
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 18
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 19
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 19
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Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 20
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 21
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 21
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 22
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 22
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 22
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 22
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Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 23
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Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 24
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 25
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 25
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 26
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 26
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 27
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 27
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 28
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 28
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 29
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 29
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 30
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 30
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 31
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 31
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 32
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 32
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 33
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 33
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 34
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 34
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 35
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 35
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 36
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 36
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 37
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 37
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 38
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 38
Birkenhead General Election 2015 Declaration election expenses Frank Field
Birkenhead General Election 2015 Declaration election expenses Frank Field
Birkenhead General Election 2015 declaration election expenses George Davies
Birkenhead General Election 2015 declaration election expenses George Davies
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 39
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 39
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 40
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 40
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 41
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 41
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 42
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 42
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 43
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 43
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 44
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 44
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 45
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 45
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 46
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 46
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 47
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 47
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 48
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 48
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 49
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 49
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 50
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 50
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 51
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 51
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 52
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 52
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 53
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 53
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 54
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 54
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 55
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 55
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 56
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 56
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 57
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 57
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 58
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return long campaign page 58

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Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Candidates | 15th November 2012

There are six candidates for the one Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner vacancy following close of nominations yesterday (19th October 2012). Polling day is on 15th November 2012. They are as follows (in alphabetical order):-

CANDIDATE
SURNAME
Candidate Full Name Commonly used surname (if any) Commonly used forename (if any) Party Description
GUBB Geoffrey Ian GUBB Geoff The Conservative Party Candidate
JONES Hilary Jane UKIP
KEAVENEY Paula Clare Liberal Democrats
KENNEDY Jane Elizabeth KENNEDY Jane Labour Party Candidate
REID Kiron John Cuchulain REID Kiron Independent
RIMMER Paul Duane English Democrats – “More Police – Catching Criminals!”

As there is more than one candidate it is a contested election. Each candidate is allowed to spend up to £182,529 on their election campaign and has to provide receipts for any expenditure over £20. Each candidate has had to pay either a cash deposit or banker’s draft deposit of £5,000 (6*£5,000 = £30,000 in deposits collected in total). If any candidate receives less than 5% of the vote their £5,000 deposit won’t be returned. Donations over £50 to a candidate’s campaign also need to be recorded.

The vote will be under the Supplementary Vote system, which means if any candidate gets more than 50% of the 1st choice votes they will be elected the winner. Everyone voting will get a 1st and 2nd choice vote. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the 1st choice votes, then the 2nd choice votes are used (but only 2nd choice votes that were for the candidates that had the most and second most 1st choice votes). So say for instance 100,000 ballots are cast. The candidates are Candidate A, B, C, D, E and F and the first choice result was D (32,600), E(32,400), C (15,000), F(8,000), A(5,000) and B(2,000) would result in:-

First round
Candidates C, F, A and B eliminated. B loses £5,000 deposit.

Second round

First Choice Second preference votes for D Second preference votes for E
C 5,000 4,900
F 2,000 3,000
A 1,500 1,500
B 600 600
Total 9,100 10,000

These votes are then added to the totals for the first round. So:-

Candidate D 32,600 (first round) + 9,100 (second round) = 41,700
Candidate E 32,400 (first round) + 10,000  (second round) = 42,400

Candidate E is declared the winner with a majority of 700.

UPDATED 20/10/2012: The author received his polling card in this election today.
Declaration of Interest: The author is an elector in this election.
Declaration of Interest: The author was a student at a university which employs one of the candidates (Kiron Reid).
Declaration of Interest: The author was previously in the same political party as two of the candidates (Kiron Reid and Paula Keaveney).

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Candidate: Patricia Williams Ward: Oxton Council: Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Year: 2012

Page 1 Patricia Williams (candidate) Allan Brame (agent) Candidate Declaration Oxton Wirral Council 2012

Page 2 Patricia Williams (candidate) Allan Brame (agent) Agent Declaration Oxton Wirral Council 2012

Page 3 – Patricia Williams section 1 Details of candidate and election section 2 Details of election agent Oxton Wirral Council 2012

Page 4 – Patricia Williams section 3a Types of payment section 3b categories of spending Oxton Wirral Council 2012

Page 5 – Patricia Williams section 4 donations Oxton Wirral Council 2012

Page 6 – Patricia Williams rejected donations Oxton Wirral Council 2012

Page 7 – Patricia Williams accepted donations Oxton Wirral Council 2012 Note blacked out sections are Oxton Liberal Democrats, 29 Shrewsbury Road, Prenton, CH43 2JB and political party.

Page 8 – Patricia Williams WAPS invoice 1 Oxton Wirral Council 2012

Page 9 – Patricia Williams WAPS invoice 2 Oxton Wirral Council 2012

Page 10 – Patricia Williams WAPS invoice 3 Oxton Wirral Council 2012

Page 11 – Patricia Williams WAPS invoice 4 Oxton Wirral Council 2012