Election 2015 Lost Deposits

To stand for parliament a candidate must put up a £500 deposit. If they manage to get one twentieth (5%) of the vote in their particular constituency then their deposit is returned. The deposit system exists primarily to prevent those who are not serious about becoming an MP from standing. As you can readily imagine, too many lost deposits can become quite expensive for political parties.

Election 2015 saw 3,971 candidates stand making the sum of all deposits collected £1,985,500. Here is the breakdown of the lost deposits by party:

Lost Deposits in the 2015 General Election

Conservative lost deposits 2015: 18/647 (£9,000)
Labour lost deposits 2015: 3/631 (£1,500)
UKIP lost deposits 2015: 80/624 (£40,000)
Liberal Democrat lost deposits 2015: 340/631 (£170,000)
Green Party lost deposits 2015: 442/573 (£221,000)
SNP lost deposits 2015: 0/59 (£0)
Plaid Cymru lost deposits 2015: 8/40 (£4,000).

How does this compare to last time? The Conservatives lost 18 deposits, up from 2 last time. This increase is explained by the fact that the Conservatives fielded more candidates in Northern Ireland this time. Labour lost 2 fewer deposits than last time. UKIP fielded more candidates this time and saved more deposits, losing only 80 compared to the 459 last time. The Liberal Democrats have gone from losing no deposits last time to losing 340 this time. The Green Party fielded more candidates this time and saved more deposits, although they still lost 442.
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