Select a region
Deputies will again consider cutting candidate and party campaign expenditure limits for the next election, with the States Assembly & Constitution Committee steadfast in its desire to increase them.
At the 2020 election, individual spending was capped at £6,000, while parties could spend up to £9,000. But SACC has proposed increasing the cap to £7,500 and £15,000 for people and parties respectively.
However, when it was put to the States in May it faced opposition with amendments seeking to keep the caps at 2020 levels or halve them. The limits faced being slashed as low as £2,000 for individuals, but SACC faced the music and agreed a compromise.
The Committee went back to the drawing board with a promise to explore lower spending limits, but it concluded that its limits were right in the first instance and provided more detailed explanations of why the spending cap should be increased.
It argues that going lower than 2020’s limits will penalise candidates who are not sitting politicians, an adjustment for inflation is justified to prevent a real terms cut in campaign spending, and candidates must be allowed to choose how to market themselves, rather than centralise campaigning to the States’ free materials.
But Deputies Steve Falla and Sue Aldwell have submitted an amendment which seeks to lower the spending limit at up to £3,000 for individuals and £6,000 for political parties.
The pair said SACC has ignored the wishes of deputies by proposing the same limits for the second time.
“The proposer and seconder of this amendment consider that the Assembly should have a further opportunity to consider making reductions to up to £3,000 in money or money’s worth for individual candidates and up to £6,000 in money or money’s worth for parties.”
Pictured: The next election is on 18 June 2025.
In their June meeting, SACC President Deputy Carl Meerveld said the committee should fight for the original limits they proposed last month, but acknowledged they needed a “very strong argument” to win backing.
Deputy Simon Fairclough feared the wider States wanted to arbitrarily reduce the expenditure limit through a “finger in the air, gut feeling” approach and said despite presenting research pointing to do the opposite, an amendment was likely offering a series of lower spending caps.
He said they needed to “defend the principle that if you want to mailshot everyone you should be able to".
Meanwhile, Deputy Yvonne Burford said the States “should not limit election materials to the central state” and that “two committees have come to the same conclusion for the same reason".
“There is a huge problem with the fact that there is an inequity that some candidates can afford to do this, and a great many can’t.”
Even if a Jersey campaign spending estimate was adjusted for inflation it would effectively be the same as what the committee originally proposed to the States, Deputy Meerveld noted.
The States will debate the policy letter in early September.
Pictured (top): Deputies Steve Falla and Sue Aldwell.
Fears of restricted campaigning if expenditure cap reduced
Election date set but spending rules remain up in the air
“Obscenely high” election spending uplift faces opposition
Political parties could benefit from £6k uplift in campaign spending
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.