[2] The general restrictions in the UK were held in Bowman v United Kingdom[3] to be fully compatible with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Although this landmark legislation was concerned with constituency candidates, their campaign expenses and their agents only, all other efforts to create a political finance regime started from here.
The next legislative step to deal with the subject was the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 that sought to end the selling of titles in exchange for donations to political parties.
In August 1976 the Committee on Financial Aid to Political Parties, chaired by Lord Houghton of Sowerby, proposed that financial aid to political parties should be given in two forms: (a) general grants to the central organisations for their general purposes and (b) a limited reimbursement of election expenses to parliamentary and local government candidates.
[6] The paper proposed to tighten controls on spending by parties and candidates, substantially strengthen the powers of the Electoral Commission, and increase the transparency of donations.
[7] In November 2011 the Committee on Standards on Public Life, chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly, published a Report on "Political Party Finance.
The report made five main recommendations: Membership subscriptions ("subs") provide one source of funding for political parties.
The Policy Development Grant scheme is administered by the Electoral Commission and allocates a total of £2m to eligible parties each year.