Combination of limit under paragraph 9 and other limits
177.Paragraph 10 of Schedule 9 determines the campaign expenditure limits in circumstances where a combination of elections that would fall within the ambit of paragraph 9 is in turn combined with one or more other elections to the European Parliament or to a devolved legislature that would fall within the ambit of any of paragraphs 4 to 8. An example of such a combination would be:
| 9 June 2009 | European Parliamentary election takes place. |
| 14 September 2009 | Her Majesty’s intention to dissolve Parliament is announced. |
| 5 October 2009 | The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament sets a date for an extraordinary general election. |
| 12 November 2009 | The parliamentary general election takes place and, at the same time, the extraordinary general election to the Scottish Parliament. |
178.In such a scenario, paragraph 10(3) provides that a party contesting all three elections would attract an expenditure limit in Scotland which is the aggregate of the limits that would apply for each of the three elections. The limits to apply in England, Wales and Northern Ireland would be the aggregate of the limits that would apply to the parliamentary and European Parliamentary elections.
179.The combined period (as defined in paragraph 10(4)) in the case of the above example would begin on 13 November 2008 (that is, 365 days before the date of the parliamentary general election) and end on 12 November 2009 (the date of the combined poll). By virtue of paragraph 10(5) the limits on campaign expenditure for the European Parliamentary election on 9 June 2009, as determined in accordance with paragraph 4 of Schedule 9, would continue to apply to the relevant period for that election (10 February 2009 to 9 June 2009).
