Since last week’s announcement that there is going to be a General Election on 8 June, many of our members have been in touch asking what this means for their campaigning. Their main concern is about the Lobbying Act and how it will affect their ability to speak up and continue advocating for the changes they want to see.
This is because once an election is called, we enter into a pre-election period during which specific rules apply both in charity law and election law.
But there is a lot of confusion about what these rules require and indeed which are relevant to charities. Indeed, while everyone asks about the Lobbying Act they may not be aware that actually the rules are mostly set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. And if you are a charity, you should first of all be reading the Charity Commission’s guidance on ‘Charities and Elections’ (PDF, 606KB).
To help you better understand the rules and what they mean for your campaigning, we have just published this briefing on how to campaign and stay within the rules in the run up to the General Election.
We hope you find it helpful and that it guides you through the key questions you have been asking yourself.
The Charity Commission and the Electoral Commission have also published useful resources such as:
- Charity Commission case report on campaigning and political issues arising from the 2015 General Election – this provides a good overview of the issues that the Charity Commission will investigate and the action it will take.
- Electoral Commission guidance for non-party campaigners.
If you still have questions, I hope you can join us next week for our free webinar on campaigning during the election period, where will be discussing the rules and what they mean for you, and taking questions on how they apply in practice to your charity.
Elizabeth was head of policy and public services at NCVO until 2020. 
