Grassroots group Momentum fined £16,700 for ‘multiple breaches’ of electoral law
Jeremy Corbyn-supporting group Momentum has been fined £16,700 by the Electoral Commission for "multiple breaches" of electoral law during the 2017 general election.
The political finance regulator said it had levied the grassroots activist group with the highest fine for a non-party campaigner over an inaccurate 2017 general election spending return – for which it was fined £12,150 – and failures to report donations accepted as a "members association’ outside of an election period.
The commission found that the group omitted £22,958.46 of reportable donations from a post poll donation report, for which it was fined £2,700.
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Louise Edwards, director of regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: “Non-party campaigners are essential for a healthy democracy. But just as crucial is that after a poll, voters can see complete and accurate spending data. The fines that we have levied reflect Momentum’s repeated revisions to their spending return, poor record keeping and failure to follow advice given by the Commission prior to the election.”
Momentum spokesperson Laura Parker said: "The Electoral Commission did find some mistakes in our reporting and some clerical errors. This isn’t surprising for a new organisation which at the time was less than two years old and had 25,000 members and 150 local groups. The Conservatives likely employ more lawyers than Momentum have staff, and even getting close to fully complying with these complex regulations for a volunteer led, social movement organisation is a herculean task.
"The level of detail required under the law was often comic. In one instance, the Electoral Commission queried the purchase of a pizza, wanting to know what percentage of the pizza was eaten by staff members and what percentage by volunteers.
Parker continued: "These gagging laws, introduced by the Conservatives and opposed at the time by hundreds of campaign groups, are deliberately designed to leave big money unregulated whilst throttling volunteer led, campaigning organisations with burdensome regulation which in some cases is almost impossible to follow.
"We’re proud to be funded by small donations and powered by tens of thousands of volunteers, and we believe that our democracy should serve the many. These laws only help big corporate donors who want to funnel dark money into our political system."
Parker said Momentum believed the fines were "disproportionate" but added: "We won’t make these mistakes again."