What did Gillian Wood’s election campaign to become a councillor in Claughton ward spend £1,354.53 on?

What did Gillian Wood’s election campaign to become a councillor in Claughton ward spend £1,354.53 on?

What did Gillian Wood’s election campaign to become a councillor in Claughton ward spend £1,354.53 on?

ED – updated 4.7.2017 to include extra detail on VAT treatment and comment

Below this blog post is the paperwork submitted as part of the election expense return for the Labour candidate for the Claughton byelection for a councillor to Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.

These are open to public inspection and I inspected these at Wallasey Town Hall last week (although there was a delay due to “staffing issues”).

The agent for the Labour candidate Gillian Wood was Martin Morris. Although Cllr George Davies and the Wirral Labour Group have had an involvement in the campaign too.

On the 5th May 2017, the result was announced. Gillian Wood was returned as a councillor for a period of one year with a vote of 1,761 votes (52%), a majority of 1,021. The second placed candidate for the Liberal Democrats received 740 votes (22%) and the voting system used was first past the post.

The nomination papers for this candidate show that her nomination papers were submitted on the 3rd April 2017 at 4.30 pm and the initials (KR) of the Wirral Council employee that accepted them was Kate Robinson.

Strangely, this date on the nomination papers doesn’t match the date given on page 1 of the election expenses return (see below) (5th April 2017) as the date she became a candidate and is after the date given that the agent was appointed (4th April 2017).

I asked another election agent in this Claughton byelection (Allan Brame who was agent for David Evans the Liberal Democrat candidiate) about matters involving the documentation below. He helpfully pointed out that leaflets are zero-rated for the purposes of VAT.

He also stated that the latest date a person could become a candidate was the 4th April 2017 (close of nominations) and the earliest date 27th March 2017 (if the candidacy had already been announced). On the subject of donations he stated “I am surprised that the details of donations have not been provided.

However, the election expenditure return shows expenditure of £1,354.53 (the spending limit was £1,427.42).

Invoices accompanying the return are for hire of a car PA System on polling day from SS Radio (£30) and for leaflets from LT Print Ltd (2,500 Vote Labour cards) for £169.20 (£141 + £28.20 (VAT)). Although as these are VAT zero-rated I’m puzzled as to why VAT is included on the invoice!

There are references to invoices 76414, 76415, 76796 and 76795 also from LT Print Ltd, also for leaflets. These invoices were paid by BACS payment and amount to £491, £364, £253 and £491.

It is claimed by the agent that of the first of these (invoice 76414) for £491 that £415.47 doesn’t apply to the election period as 5,500 of these leaflets were delivered prior to the 26th March 2017.

This would imply that this invoice (which was not supplied) was for 6,500 leaflets, of which 1,000 were delivered during the election period.

Where the money came from referring to the £1,354.53 spent during the campaign is unknown as donations were entered as £NIL.

As the candidate who was elected, Gillian Wood also has to state in a declaration which individuals or organisations funded her elections campaign which is published on Wirral Council’s website.

At the time of writing, there is no link to her register of interests from the page about her on Wirral Council’s website.

Agent Declaration Labour byelection Claughton byelection 2017 Martin Morris
Agent Declaration Labour byelection Claughton byelection 2017 Martin Morris
Declaration candidate Labour byelection Claughton 2017 cropped resized
Declaration candidate Labour byelection Claughton 2017 cropped resized Gillian Wood
SS Radio 30 resized
SS Radio 30 resized
Statement of account LT Print page 1 of 2 resized
Statement of account LT Print page 1 of 2 resized
Statement of account LT Print page 2 of 2 resized
Statement of account LT Print page 2 of 2 resized
LT Print invoice 141 resized
LT Print invoice 141 resized
Candidate election expenditure-Labour-byelection page 1 of 15 section 1 section 2
Candidate election expenditure-Labour-byelection page 1 of 15 section 1 section 2 Candidate Gillian Wood Agent Martin Morris
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 2 section 4 section 5
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 2 section 4 section 5
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 3 section 3a section 3b
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 3 section 3a section 3b
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 4 Advertising
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 4 Advertising
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 5 Unsolicited material to electors
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 5 Unsolicited material to electors
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 6 Transport
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 6 Transport
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 7 Public Meetings
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 7 Public Meetings
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 8 Agent and other staff costs
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 8 Agent and other staff costs
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 9 Accommodation and administration
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 9 Accommodation and administration
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 10 Other Authorised Spending
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 10 Other Authorised Spending
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 11 Personal Expenses
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 11 Personal Expenses
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 12 Unpaid Claims
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 12 Unpaid Claims
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 13 Disputed Claims
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 13 Disputed Claims
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 14 Permissible Donations
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 14 Permissible Donations
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 15 Impermissible Donations
Candidate election expenditure Labour byelection page 15 Impermissible Donations

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

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?

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

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
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 20
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
Birkenhead General Election 2015 election expenses return short campaign page 23
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 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

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