I reproduce below (with his permission) an email response from Lee Hurst (h/t Roy Batty and El Cnutador) re Independent MPs.
I clearly did not do enough initial research and it may be the amount stated was the maximum permitted spend looking at the Electoral Commission site re the 2019 GE, lowest appears about two and a half thousand or so.
My intention is to produce a summary guide to the rules and processes relating to a General Election candidacy.
Hi David
I’m not sure how the £11,000 spend was arrived at.
I use an online printer that can do 50,000 A5 double sided flyers, for circa £650.
Motivated door to door delivery can do 200 per hour.
If there is support for your friend, I would expect that delivery could be done by supporters for free.
You then need £500 for the deposit. Total £1,150.
I’ve stated before on Twitter that unless a party or independent can muster 1,000 supporters, within a constituency, they should not consider standing. Anything short of that is a waste of effort, money and time and is usually replicated by each new party in turn.
People should be organising outside of elections and building that support by word of mouth initially to create the base for making a run at a General Election. Voters need to see some credibility to place their X.
Reform has already been obliterated in every parliamentary election it has stood in because it has no local structure or support. They have repeated the same mistakes as all who have gone before.
I also stated on Twitter that I would put up £20,000 to pay the deposits of 40 candidates if they could show the 1,000 support.
This does not mean local election results, it means a list of verifiable people willing to pledge their vote to the candidate wanting the deposit.
On another note, I had the pleasure of spending time with some of 3 Para in Afghanistan in 2006. That and my two trips to Iraq on 2006 and 2007 have been the outstanding moments to me in my time as a stand up comedian.
Lee Hurst
© Gillygangle 2023
