• Limits on national expenditure in general elections;

• Limited state funding for political parties;

• An annual restriction of £50,000 on the size of any donation by an individual or organisation;

• In the case of organisations, specific consent being required from members or shareholders before donations can be made;

• Transparency of all donations over £1,000.

In addition, the Liberal Democrats also published their own rules on party donations which will apply from January 1, 1998. These are:

• Any donation of £1,000 or more must be notified within 30 days of receipt to the chief executive indicating the amount of the donation and the name of the donor;

• The chief executive will maintain a register in hard copy and electronic form of the amount of the donation and the identity of the donor. The register will be available to the press and public and will be kept up to date;

• In addition these rules will apply to loans of £10,000 made on terms that they are for a period in excess of one year and to tangible or quantifiable donations in kind.