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 2

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 5

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 8

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 11

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 14

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 17

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 20

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 23

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 26

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 29

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 32

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 35

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 38

Birkenhead General Election 2015 Declaration election expenses Frank Field

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 40

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 43

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 46

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 49

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 52

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 55

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 58

If you click on any of the buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people.

Expense claim forms for Councillor Brian Kenny (Wirral Council) 2013 to 2014

Writing this, I had better declare that many years ago in Liverpool Councillor Brian Kenny gave us both a gift of a red plastic post box in I think in 2010 (it’s only a few inches high) as part of the lobbying that the Communication Workers Union were doing at the time of people like myself and Leonora. Although this falls into the trivial category, journalism ethics means I’d better state that at the start as I don’t want people thinking I’m being too kind or not objective enough to former Councillor Brian Kenny because of something he gave us four years ago. I will point out that gift was completely unconnected to my work as a journalist. However this is probably more openness and accountability than you will get from most politicians (who were recently told at a Planning Committee meeting about Tranmere Rovers that they only had to declare gifts received in the last twelve months)!

When I picked up the expenses claim forms to scan in for former Councillor Brian Kenny, at first I thought I must have picked up a batch which was for more than one councillor as compared to other councillors there seemed a lot of it. I know he was the Cabinet Member for the Environment, but his expenses claim forms go on and on and on and on and on like the waves crashing against the shore on the Wirral coastline.

As probably readers of this blog are already aware, former Councillor Brian Kenny lost his seat in Birkenhead and Tranmere in the May 2014 elections to the Green Party’s Councillor Pat Cleary.

I have only seen Brian Kenny twice since the elections. Once was at the meeting where Councillor Steve Foulkes became Mayor of Wirral in June, the other time was when I was at the Birkenhead County Court offices when I was requesting copies of court records on Wirral Council’s possession order (granted in February 2014 effective from February 2015) for Fernbank Farm. Before I start getting diverted into interesting anecdotes about a former councillor I had better show you first the expenses forms.