Amidst all the talk of a general election in 2024, what do you need to know to campaign effectively within the law?
Explore our resources on campaigning which explain the key rules for charities and other campaigners around spending on campaigning, publishing political statements, and wider political advocacy and influencing, such as seeking to influence party manifestos.
A guide for charities
General Election 2024: Charity Campaigning – a guide
The run-up to an election can be a fantastic opportunity for charities to engage with parties, candidates, the media and general public to drive their missions forward. But too often, concerns about legal constraints on political activity cause charities to question how vocal they can be at this vital time. We’ve broken down some of the rules around charity campaigning, helping you to be confident in your campaigning and advocacy plans, including free tool-kits for managing risk and producing political activity policies.
Note that this guide is focussed on charities.
Resources for all campaigners – our Election ’24 Factsheets
How election law might affect your organisation
Whilst the run up to an election is a period of opportunity, it also carries some legal compliance considerations. We outline what election law might mean for non-party campaigners and their campaigns.
This guide is applicable to all campaigners.
Charities and campaigning ahead of a general election
In spite of myths to the contrary, the vast majority of charities can campaign and engage in policy advocacy in the run up to elections. In this short blog, we review some of the key regulatory regimes that charities need to be aware of to ensure they comply with election law and charity law (explored in more detail in our guide General Election 2024: Charity Campaigning, see above).
Publishing advocacy materials or political statements
We outline some of the key issues to look out for when publishing advocacy materials and how to comply with fundraising and advertising regulation as well as intellectual property law and defamation law.
New transparency requirements (‘imprints’) ahead of elections
We’ve joined forces with the Electoral Commission to take a deep dive into an additional set of rules under election law that can apply when publishing advocacy and campaigning content (including social media posts). Known as the ‘imprint’ regime, we set out key requirements along with how your organisation could be affected by these regulations.
New spending limits for non-party campaigners – what you need to know
Non-party campaigners are subject to financial restrictions, particularly during a regulated period. Ahead of the next general election, the spending limits under general campaign rules have been uprated for the first time since 2009 and apply from 1 January 2024.
Data protection and political campaigning (part one)
This article focuses on the key aspects of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) that apply to campaigning using direct marketing.
The data protection considerations of political campaigning (part two)
In this article, we focus on the more general UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 requirements that you should bear in mind when communicating with individuals and processing personal data as part of your campaigning and advocacy activities.
Watch on demand – all campaigners
Campaigning ahead of the next general election: the regulated period
Marking the start of the ‘regulated period’, Simon Steeden and Suhan Rajkumar run through rules around charity campaigning, and rules impacting all campaigners – with a focus on the so-called Lobbying Act rules around non-party campaigning.
Watch on demand – charities
Charity campaigning law update
Get to grips with the legal framework around charity campaigning in this 15min. bitesize video with an overview and practical examples of the application of CC9, the Lobbying Act and PPERA from Suhan Rajkumar.
Charities and social media: The new Charity Commission guidance
Mindy Jhittay and Suhan Rajkumar review the latest Charity Commission guidance, plus the potential pitfalls of the use of personal social media accounts, how to identify and manage risks and managing your reputation.