Representation of the People Act 1983
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| Long title | An Act to consolidate the Representation of the People Acts of 1949, 1969, 1977, 1978 and 1980, the Electoral Registers Acts of 1949 and 1953, the Elections (Welsh Forms) Act 1964, Part III of the Local Government Act 1972, sections 6 to 10 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the Representation of the People (Armed Forces) Act 1976, the Returning Officers (Scotland) Act 1977, section 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1981, section 62 of and Schedule 2 to the Mental Health (Amendment) Act 1982, and connected provisions; and to repeal as obsolete the Representation of the People Act 1979 and other enactments related to the Representation of the People Acts. |
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| Citation | 1983 c. 2 |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 8 February 1983 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Wales Act 2017 |
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Status: Amended
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| Text of the Representation of the People Act 1983 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk | |
The Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the British electoral process in the following ways:
The Act also regulates how political parties and people acting on their behalf are to behave before and during an election.
Sections 72 to 90 control the total election expenses that can be spent on behalf of a candidate.
During the time limit of the election, all money spent on the promotion of a candidate must be authorised by his election agent. This includes the cost of holding public meetings, organising public displays, issuing advertisements, circulars, or otherwise presenting the candidate's views and the extent or nature of his backing or disparaging another candidate. It does not include travel expenses from home or similar personal expenses.
The expenses limit for the campaign (which is enforceable due to it all having to be authorised by one person) is £100,000 for a parliamentary by-election, but is approximately £5,483 plus either 6.2p or 4.6p for every registered voter in the district.
Sections 91 to 94 entitle the candidate to one free mailshot of election material to all voters in the constituency. It is also illegal to print fake polling cards.
Sections 95 to 98 entitle the candidate to hold public meetings free of charge in schools and other public buildings in the constituency, and pay only the cost price for making the rooms available.
Sections 99 makes it illegal for officers in charge of administering an election to be involved in any of the election campaigns.
Section 100 forbids a police officer from canvassing in any election which overlaps with their police area.
Sections 101 to 105 made it illegal to hire or lend taxis and buses to give lifts of voters to the ballot box. These sections were repealed by Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
Section 106 makes it illegal for any person to publish any false statement of fact in relation to the candidate's personal character or conduct, unless he or she can show that he had reasonable grounds for believing that statement to be true. Similar provisions in previous laws have made this illegal since 1895. It is also illegal to publish a false statement of a candidate's withdrawal from an election.
In September 2007 Miranda Grell was found guilty under this section when she made allegations of paedophilia and having sex with teenage boys against her gay opponent during the United Kingdom local elections, 2006.
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