Ulster Unionists remain last out of Northern Ireland's big five parties in terms of money coming in
The Ulster Unionist Party remains by far the last out of Northern Ireland's top five political parties when it comes to income and expenditure.
The Electoral Commission has published a summary of the parties' accounts for the financial year, ending December 31, 2024.
The figures are as follows:
• Sinn Fein – income £1.07m, expenditure £1.49m;
• Alliance – income £475,562, expenditure £500,017;
• SDLP – income £474,574, expenditure £442,380;
• DUP – income £441,985, expenditure £436,136
• UUP – income £171,443, expenditure £127,208.
Meanwhile the TUV had an income of £112,771 and spending of £109,397;
The Socialist Party (Northern Ireland) had an income of £83,691 and spending of £86,266;
And the Tories (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) had an income of £56,425, with spending also of £56,425.
In 2023, the ranking in terms of income was Sinn Fein, DUP, SDLP, Alliance, and UUP.
The UUP has been in distant fifth place in income every year from 2022 onwards.
Meanwhile Sinn Fein is consistently top of the list each year, by far.
Cahir Hughes, head of Electoral Commission in NI, said: “We are committed to making sure political funding is transparent.
"Political parties spend and receive considerable sums of money so it’s important that information on their finances is accessible to the public.
"Publishing their accounts allows voters to see how parties are funded and choose to spend their money.”