BC Election 2013

Now that the BC Conservatives filed their annual financing report with their 3 month extension (on June 27, 2011), we now have a four-way comparison as to the financial resources the principal players in the upcoming election have. If there is an election called in the autumn of 2011, it would be fairly easy to extrapolate what each of the players would be able to utilize.

Analysis:
1. The BC Liberals have much larger fundraising capacity than the rest of the parties. They were able to net about $4.3 million over 2010 and they have $2.4 million cash on hand to pay off their $2.8 million in election debt. Their debt currently costs prime plus 2.25% (prime currently is 3%) and is slated for repayment on December 1, 2012. Corporations attributed 64% of the revenue base, while individuals accounted for 25%.

2. The BC NDP is in worse financial shape than the BC Liberals – they have roughly $1.5 million in election-related debt to pay off and $750k cash on hand to offset that. They were able to net $1.57 million in 2010 and should be able to pay off their election debts in 2011. The bulk of their debt is at a credit union and they are paying an average of 4.3% interest on the loan amount. About $600k of the loan is slated for repayment on March 1, 2012, while most of the rest is on demand. The big difference between the BC Liberals and NDP is that the NDP own the land and building that make up their headquarters, an asset currently worth $1.37M on the NDP’s balance sheet. Individuals contributed 82% of the revenue base, while trade unions were 13%, which is somewhat contrary to the instinctive public opinion.

3. The BC Green Party has about $37,000 in the bank account and a few thousand in accrued liabilities. They managed to raise $140,000 in 2010, but spent nearly as much in various expenses. Individuals contributed 95% of the revenue base.

4. The BC Conservatives has about $13,000 in the bank, $7,000 in liabilities. They raised $61,000 and spent $28,000. What is interesting is that they managed to find 1,180 people to contribute money to the party. Individuals contributed 91% of the revenue base.

5. It would appear that the BC Liberals are advantaged in terms of money if an election were called today, but their relative advantage over the other parties would be greater if an election were held later.

Elections BC released all of the registered political parties 2009 annual financing reports today. The Conservative party failed to file on time – they have until June 30 (and a $100 fine) to file, otherwise they risk de-registration. I will summarize the financial data for the BC Liberal, NDP and Green Party. I’d appreciate attribution if you found the information in this analysis to be useful.

BC Liberals:
The BC Liberals spent about $16.6 million in 2009 (net of transfers). They raised $12.3 million from contributors, and have incurred $4.9 million in debt at the end of the year. They are receiving a rate of prime plus 2.25% which is currently 4.5%.

Individuals contributed 21% of the BC Liberal revenues, while corporations contributed 64% of the revenues.

NDP:
The NDP spent $9.4 million in 2009 (net of transfers). They raised $6.9 million from contributors, and ended the year with $2.2 million in debt. They are receiving a rate of between 3.25% to 4.5% on multiple loans.

Individuals contributed 63% of the NDP revenues, while trade unions contributed 32% of the revenues.

Green:
The Green party spent and raised about $190,000 in 2009. They incurred no debt at the end of the year.

Individuals contributed 94% of the revenues.

Summary thoughts:

The largest line-item entry is the amount of bank debt the BC Liberal party has incurred after the election. They have about a $4.9 million debt at the end of 2009. At their current level of debt, this will result in an interest bite of about $220,000/year, and this will rise later in the year when the Bank of Canada will raise rates.

It is always surprising to know the NDP manages to get a lower rate of interest on their bank debt.

The split of where revenues are coming from is surprising – most people have the impression that the NDP is funded by union donations, but they are funded 2/3rds by individual donors. The union donors are about a quarter of the revenues. The BC Liberal party, on the other hand, are 2/3rds funded by corporate donors, which corresponds to the public perception. Individual donors to the BC Liberal contribute about a fifth of their revenues.

The BC Liberal party, in general, was able to substantially fund all ridings the maximum amount of spending allowed in the election campaign – 85 ridings times $70,000 is $5.95 million. The NDP were able to sufficiently fund winnable seats, but safe BC Liberal seats were dramatically underfunded.

The Green Party raised a modest amount, but they are still not at the critical mass where they can maintain a full-time staff for party purposes. They did manage to end the year debt-free, presumably because no financial institution would want to lend them a substantial sum of money for election purposes.

Data tables:
The following are tables that outline the two-year summaries from the major parties. Please note the categories might have slight differences between 2008 and 2009, and there may be some minor transcription errors.

BC Liberals:

NDP:

Green: