The Charity Commission has today published guidance to explain what is appropriate political activity for charities in the run up to the general election.

Charities and elections aims to help organisations maintain their independence while using their voices effectively and contains a number of recommendations relating to issues such as publicity, the use of charity premises and political speakers. Key points include:

• when promoting a policy similar to that of a political party, charities must make sure their position is independent to the party’s, and that they promote only the interests of their beneficiaries;
• when inviting candidates to speak on issues the charity is promoting they must ensure a balanced political representation;
• in no way should charities help candidates with their election campaigns, whether financially or in other ways.

Caroline Cook, the commission’s head of regulatory policy, said: “We hope this guidance, together with our existing guidance on campaigning and political activities, will give charities the confidence to continue to use their independent voice for the people they work with during the pre-election period.”

The guidance can be downloaded from www.charitycommission.gov.uk. The general campaigning guidelines Campaigning and Political Activities by Charities can also be found on the website under the “publications” link.