Richard Tice

The Labour Party significantly outspent the Conservatives Last Year , financial accounts released by the Electoral Commission show.

Labour's spending totalled £44. 45m, with The Party 's income up 3. 5% on 2021, despite lower membership numbers.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives' spending was £33. 06m, with income down 3. 3%, and money from donors to The Party falling by £2. 4m.

The Liberal Democrats spent £6. 7m, while SNP expenditure totalled £5. 05m.

The Commission is an independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance across the UK. It has published the accounts of parties with income or spending above £250,000, which numbered 18 in 2022.

Labour recorded a £2. 7m surplus, raising £47. 2m, even as it lost nearly 25,000 more members, the. In 2021, Sir Keir Starmer 's party recorded a £5. 2m deficit.

By The End of 2022, Labour had 407,445 members, down from 432,213 in 2021, and nearly 125,000 down on its recent peak in 2019 when it was led by Jeremy Corbyn .

The Conservatives lost £2. 3m in 2022 during what The Party 's annual accounts described as a " turbulent year". Boris Johnson resigned as Prime Minister In July , to be succeeded by Liz Truss , who herself stepped down in October.

The Party raised £30. 7m in income, but saw money from donors falling compared with 2021. A report from The Party treasurer blamed this partly on " donor pledges moving into 2023".

The Tories do not publish membership figures, but their income from membership fees fell slightly from £1. 99m to £1. 97m.

The SNP.

The Green Party of England and Wales raised £3. 15m and spent £3. 23m.

Plaid Cymru had income of £970,000 and expenditure of £942,000.

In Northern Ireland , Sinn Fein outspent the Democratic Unionists with expenditure of £1. 19m and income of £1. 53m. The DUP spent £488,000 and raised £426,000, less than The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 's £522,000.

Reform UK, led by Richard Tice and formerly the Brexit Party , spent £949,000, 37% More Than the £692,000 it brought in.

Louise Edwards, director of regulation and digital transformation at The Commission , said: " We Are committed to making sure political funding is transparent.

" Larger parties spend and receive considerable sums of money so it's important that information on their finances is accessible to The Public . Publishing their accounts allows voters to see how parties are funded and choose to spend their money. "

Source of news: bbc.com