Donation caps and real source-of-funds checks missing from party-finance reform

The Representation of the People Bill (introduced 12 February 2026) raises the Electoral Commission's maximum fine from £20,000 to £500,000, introduces 'Know Your Donor' checks, tightens unincorporated-association rules, and, via Rycroft Review amendments, caps overseas-elector donations at £100,000 and imposes a crypto-donation moratorium. Spotlight on Corruption's analysis identifies what remains: no cap on donation size; a company-donation test based on revenue rather than taxed UK profit (so shell companies with pass-through revenue can still donate); UAs required to register only above a high threshold rather than at £500; a crypto moratorium rather than a ban; and no new criminal-enforcement measures despite police and CPS routinely deprioritising electoral finance crime.

A single donor can still legally give unlimited sums, and foreign money can still arrive via UK-registered companies that make no UK profit, or via unincorporated associations that need not check their own funders. As spending escalates, the integrity of UK elections rests on the narrowest loophole left open.

Amendments or a successor bill: annual donation caps, a taxed-UK-profits test for corporate donations, registration for all UAs donating over £500, a permanent crypto ban, updated section 54A source rules, and a dedicated electoral-crime investigation capability to close the criminal enforcement gap.

// State-led: Instrument: party-finance amendments or successor bill (donation caps, source-of-funds tests, electoral-crime investigation capability).

A live party-finance bill leaves donation size uncapped and foreign money routable through profitless UK shells; amendments are ready and the passage window is open now.