Election advice for campaigners published

Campaigners and charities have been warned that while the formal process to call the 2017 UK General Election has yet to be completed, organisations need to start to prepare for the regulations which come in during election campaigns.

Formal guidance from the Electoral Commission is expected to be published in the coming weeks, but Campaign Collective and the PRCA’s Charity and Not-For-Profit Group has published initial suggestions on how to campaign.

The advice to charities and campaigners for the 2017 General Election is based on practice established during 2015 and clarifications provided by the Electoral Commission  during that campaign.

Simon Francis, Founder Member of Campaign Collective and Co-Chair of the PRCA’s Charity and Not-For-Profit Group commented:

Campaigners will need to act fast if they want to communicate effectively during the General Election period.

While it is a shame that Lord Hodgson’s proposals to reform the rules on third party campaigning have not been implemented in time, the advice to charities and campaigners remains the same as in the 2015 election: keep calm and keep campaigning.

All organisations, including private sector firms, need to be aware of the rules around PR and communications activity during an election period, but for most organisations they will not need to do anything out of the ordinary to comply.