Hey Big Spenders
Spending thresholds seem to have been the issue of the week.
Today I give you £250,000: the Electoral Commission has published details of expenditure by parties who campaigned in May's Assembly elections and spent more than a quarter of a million.
Two did; the two who are in government.
Labour spent £254,447 but Plaid Cymru were the biggest spenders of all: £261,286.
Plaid, of course, resubmitted their returns after what the Electoral Commission politely calls "certain spending on advertising" was added. You remember? That that got them censured by the Standards Committee, pushed the Elfynometer over boiling point, registered 9 (devastating) on the Touhig Seisometer and most importantly of all - pushed the party's spending over £250,000.
And how. Their initial returns put their expenditure at £245,475 which means those adverts cost them a grand total of £15,811. Plaid's figures remain draft figures by the way until they provide the audit certificate for their returns.
So between them Labour and Plaid spent half a million. Highest spend? On "unsolicited material to electors" and "advertising". Wow.
Those huge mobile billboards calling on us all to "Kick Labour into touch" didn't come cheap, did they?
I'm Betsan Powys, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on .
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Err, yes they did. Have you considered the cost of advertising a national brand or product? It is amazing that they spent so little.
Money in politics is not a bad thing per se. You can question how that money is spent, but that is a different question entirely.
Any attempt to reduce the amount of money in politics transfers more power to unelected and unaccountable journalists and media elites - all of whom have their own biases.
I thing i'm right in saying that the £250,000 spent incldes the wages of seasonal staff drafted in in the 6 month run-up to the election - that must have been a big chunk. Also transport - battle busses guzzle up at least £50 A DAY of petrol, multiply that with how many days and how many seats had battle buses. Also communication - those high speed blackburry's chunking away every second for a month by a whole team in every seat must have produced a hefty bill that has to be included in the costs.
Those are some thoughts...