Charity registration number: 212151 ## Arthur McDougall Fund Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025 Community Accounting Plus Units 1 & 2 North West 41 Talbot Street Nottingham NG1 5GL ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Contents (continued)** |Reference and Administrative Details|1| |---|---| |Trustees' Report|2 to 6| |Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities|7| |Independent Examiner's Report|8| |Statement of Financial Activities|9| |Balance Sheet|10| |Notes to the Financial Statements|11 to 15| ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Reference and Administrative Details** **Trustees** Nigel Siederer Dr Christopher Prosser Hon Professor Tom Walsh Elizabeth Collingridge Derek McAuley John Cartledge Dr Laura Sudulich **Charity Registration Number** 212151 **Principal Office** McDougall Trust 61 Bridge Street Kington Herefordshire HR5 3DJ **Independent Examiner** Eva Stevens, employee of Community Accounting Plus Units 1 & 2 North West 41 Talbot Street Nottingham NG1 5GL Page 1 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Trustees' Report** The trustees present the annual report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2025. ## **Trustees and officers** The trustees and officers serving during the year and since the year end were as follows: Trustees: Nigel Siederer Dr Christopher Prosser (appointed 27 February 2025) Hon Professor Tom Walsh Elizabeth Collingridge Derek McAuley John Cartledge Dr Laura Sudulich (appointed 27 February 2025) ## **Structure, governance and management** ## _**Nature of governing document**_ The charity is operated under the rules of its trust deed adopted 6th July 1959 and most recently amended 1st September 2014. ## **Objectives and activities** ## _**Objects and aims**_ To advance knowledge of and to encourage the study of and research (a) in political or economic science and functions of government and the services provided to the community by public and voluntary organisations (b) into methods of election of and the selection and government of representative organisations whether national civic commercial industrial or social. In pursuing its purposes and strategies to advance knowledge and understanding of, and research into, the forms, functions and development of electoral democracy, McDougall Trust has developed a long standing focus on representative institutions, voting systems and elections. ## _**Public benefit**_ In planning and implementing McDougall’s activities in pursuit of its charitable purposes, the Trustees have regard to current Charity Commission guidance on public benefit. It does this through encouraging research into and participation in representative democracy around the world. Through its journal, REPRESENTATION Journal of Representative Democracy it provides a forum for academic research and debate into a wide range of issues and factors that contribute to more effective models and forms of democracy. The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Page 2 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Trustees' Report (continued)** ## **Achievements and performance** ## McDOUGALL TRUST COLLECTIONS McDougall's historic reference collections include important archives, books, pamphlets, press cuttings and other material from the mid-19th century onwards, relating to voting systems, elections, electoral reform, proportional representation, suffrage and related constitutional issues (including the Lakeman electoral studies library collections). After a significant period in storage, the Trust’s valuable and extensive archive collection was deposited in late-2023 at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick (MRC). This included the earliest records of the Proportional Representation Society and the Electoral Reform Society, plus the personal papers of Enid Lakeman OBE, which had been donated to the Trust via her estate. During 2025 the process of re-boxing the collection into containers that complied with the MRC’s criteria was completed and an updated box listing compiled. At the time of depositing a small quantity of documents were identified as requiring conservation work. This was all completed during 2025, supervised by the archive staff at the MRC. The trustees collaborated with the MRC in submitting an application to the National Archives for a cataloguing grant. Although this was unsuccessful, useful feedback was received so a resubmission will be made during 2026. The aim is to enable cataloguing the entire collection with a view to making it available to the public. Work continued during the year on seeking suitable homes for the remaining contents of the library, which totals over 4,000 items. A number of items were donated to the library of the National Liberal Club and the trustees’ intention is that the remains of the library are all disposed of by mid-2026. ## QUARTERLY JOURNAL McDougall Trust’s journal REPRESENTATION Journal of Representative Democracy [print ISSN 0034-4893 online 1749-4001] aims to assist the study and understanding of electoral systems and forms of government by publishing articles on topical and practical issues. The editors of this widely respected quarterly academic journal aim: o to publish cutting edge articles about elections and voting systems throughout the world; o to encourage debate on democratic practices; o to explore critically the interface between democratic practice and theory; o to produce special issues devoted to questions of democracy; and o to attract an audience of academics and students, journalists, election practitioners and informed lay readers. The McDougall Trustees are responsible for appointing the editorial team, and membership of the editorial advisory board is subject to approval by McDougall. The trustees meet with the lead editors, Dr Simona Guerra (University of Surrey) and Dr Javier Sajuria (Queen Mary University of London) periodically to discuss practical, marketing and academic content matters. The trustees are grateful to the outgoing and incoming lead editors for this and also to Dr Ruth Puttick who continues to provide excellent editorial assistance. The content of the Journal is the responsibility of the editors, and all articles are subject to peer-review ('double blind') by independent anonymous expert referees. The journal is published through external publisher Taylor & Francis Group (Informa UK) under the Routledge imprint. See: Representation | Taylor & Francis Online (tandfonline.com) The Journal’s reach has continued to grow. As well as the print and online versions, demand continues to increase for one-off downloads of individual articles. The 14% year-on-year increase in article downloads from 2022 to 2023 was followed by an additional 19% increase between 2023 and 2024. Considering downloads by region, the UK and Europe continued as the number one source of demand, followed by North America, Asia, Australasia, Africa, and Other Americas. The issues of REPRESENTATION for 2025 were 1 to 4 of Volume 61. Page 3 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Trustees' Report (continued)** ## OTHER SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH AND INFORMATION DISSEMINATION McDougall Trust has had a long history of providing grants for specific research or information dissemination projects in the field of electoral democracy. Projects that have been supported by McDougall Trust grants are listed at www.mcdougall.org.uk/Research/Grants. McDougall has provided grant funding to the Political Studies Association (PSA) to sponsor the annual McDougall Trust postgraduate dissertation prize on the theme of elections, electoral systems or representation. The grant was paid to PSA in respect of the prize awarded to the 2025 winner, Dr Daniel Casey, Australian National University. His dissertation title was ‘The Opinion-Agenda Linkage: How Letters From the Public to the Prime Minister Impact the Policy Agenda’ McDougall's website, www.mcdougall.org.uk, provides a range of resources, including signposting and access to workshop and seminar films (including short excerpts) available on YouTube, and details of other publications and funded projects. These resources include historic reprints and more recent papers on preferential voting systems in the Voting matters online resource, See: McDougall Trust - Voting matters - online resources on preferential voting systems. In November 2025 the trustees met in-person for the first time in several years in order to spend time specifically exploring future strategic priorities for the Trust. As a result a number of potential initiatives will be explored during 2026, some of which are likely to involve new support for research and information dissemination. Page 4 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Trustees' Report (continued)** ## **Financial review** McDougall Trust's existing reliable annual income is limited, mainly dividends and other proceeds from its investment portfolio and proceeds of publications sales and royalties. Following Charity Commission concurrence, the Trustees have power under section 282 of the Charities Act 2011 to expend any or all the capital contained in the Arthur McDougall Fund endowment. The Trustee Board greatly appreciates donations, whether financial, or in kind through the work of unpaid volunteers and others who have assisted with aspects of McDougall’s work. Income for the year ended 31 December 2025 from usual sources totalled £35,287 (2024: £34,216) Expenditure for the 2025 year totalled £32,764 (2024: £45,360). The outturn for the 2025 year was a surplus totalling £38,944 (2024: Surplus £8,456) after investment gains. At the end of the 2025 year, funds held (all unrestricted) were accumulated income funds of £386,816 (2024: £347,872 ) including the expendable capital portfolio. As can be seen above, for the first time in many years the Trust experienced a small surplus during 2025 as a result of the hard work undertaken over recent years. Given the work to reduce operational costs, in particular with regard to storage of the archive collection, the trustees are confident that McDougall’s financial stability and sustainability for the foreseeable future have been greatly enhanced. The Trust benefited from increased royalty income from REPRESENTATION due to higher sales. This increased income, greater control of costs and more effective cash management meant that for the second year running the Trust did not need to liquidate any of its investment portfolio. The investment environment for McDougall’s capital portfolio has seen considerable volatility. The market value of the Endowment Investment portfolio at 31 December 2025 was £371,611 (2024: £336,893) but this continues to be affected by ongoing market volatility and general global economic uncertainty in early 2026. The Board is continuing its strategic review to inform the development of ongoing programmes and plans, and uses of available funds. Meanwhile, bearing in mind global uncertainties, the Board considers the Trust’s financial position at the approval date to be satisfactory. The majority of expenditure on charitable activities during 2025 was with regard to maintaining the archive collection and publishing the Trust’s journal, REPRESENTATION Journal of Representative Democracy. A summary of the financial results for the 2025 year is given on page 9 of the Accounts. Page 5 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Trustees' Report (continued)** ## _**Policy on reserves**_ McDougall’s policy is to maintain operating reserves sufficient to cover the Trust’s commitments and projected normal operating expenses for at least one year, in order to sustain McDougall’s activities in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Such operating reserves include sums which may be transferred as required from the Trust’s expendable endowment fundlans. ## _**Major risks and management of those risks**_ ## _Financial Risk_ The charity’s two main sources of income are investments and subscriptions to its journal, Representation. War in the Middle East and other macro-economic factors could adversely affect investment income. In addition, pressure on university budgets globally could reduce subscriptions and article downloads for Representation. The annual report was approved by the trustees of the charity on .................... and signed on its behalf by: 6/7/2026 ......................................... Derek McAuley Trustee Page 6 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities** The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and applicable law and regulations. The law applicable to charities requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and - prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, and the provisions of the constitution. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. Approved by the trustees of the charity on .................... and signed on its behalf by: 6/7/2026 ......................................... Derek McAuley Trustee Page 7 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Independent Examiner's Report to the trustees of Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Arthur McDougall Fund** I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Arthur McDougall Fund (the Charity) for the year ended 31 December 2025. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act'). I report in respect of my examination of the Charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or 3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ...................................... Eva Stevens, BSc, CPFA, employee of Community Accounting Plus member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Units 1 & 2 North West 41 Talbot Street Nottingham NG1 5GL 08/07/2026 Date:............................. Page 8 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 December 2025** |**Note**
**Income and Endowments from:**
Charitable activities
Investment income
3
Total Income
**Expenditure on:**
Charitable activities
Total Expenditure
Gains/losses on investment assets
Net income
Net movement in funds
**Reconciliation of funds**
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
The funds breakdown for the period is shown in note 3|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**General**
**£**
24,999
10,288
35,287
(33,422)
(33,422)
36,421
38,286
38,286
347,872
386,158|**Total**
**2025**
**£**
24,999
10,288
35,287
(33,422)
(33,422)
36,421
38,286
38,286
347,872
386,158|**Total**
**2024**
**£ (As restated)**
24,370
9,846| |---|---|---|---| ||||34,216| ||||(45,360)| ||||(45,360)
19,600| ||||8,456| ||||8,456
339,416| ||||347,872| ||||| The notes on pages 11 to 15 form an integral part of these financial statements. Page 9 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **(Registration number: 212151) Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2025** |**Note**
**Fixed assets**
Investments
12
**Current assets**
Debtors
7
Cash at bank and in hand
8
**Total assets less current liabilities**
**Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year**
9
**Net assets**
**Funds of the charity:**
**Unrestricted income funds**
Unrestricted funds
**Total funds**|**2025**
**£**
371,611
440
15,851
16,291
387,902
(1,744)
386,158
386,158
386,158|**2024**
**£ (As restated)**
336,893
3,305
8,694| |---|---|---| |||11,999| |||348,892
(1,020)| |||347,872| |||347,872| |||347,872| The financial statements on pages 9 to 15 were approved by the trustees, and authorised for issue on .................... and signed on their behalf by: 6/7/2026 ......................................... Derek McAuley Trustee The notes on pages 11 to 15 form an integral part of these financial statements. Page 10 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025** ## **1 Accounting policies** ## **Statement of compliance** The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the second edition of the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011. ## **Basis of preparation** Arthur McDougall Fund meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes. ## **Exemption from preparing a cash flow statement** Under the exemption available to smaller charities the Board of Trustees has chosen not to include a Statement of Cash Flows within the financial statements. ## **Going concern** The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. The trustees assess whether the use of going concern is appropriate i.e. whether there are any material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. The trustees make this assessment in respect of a period of one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. ## **Income and endowments** ## **Expenditure** All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, it is probable settlement is required and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure heading that aggregates similar costs to that category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated on a basis consistent with the use of resources, with central staff costs allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges allocated on the portion of the asset’s use. Other support costs are allocated based on the spread of staff costs. ## _**Charitable activities**_ Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them. ## **Taxation** The charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes. Page 11 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025 (continued)** ## **Fixed asset investments** Fixed asset investments, other than programme related investments, are included at market value at the balance sheet date. Realised gains and losses on investments are calculated as the difference between sales proceeds and their market value at the start of the year, or their subsequent cost, and are charged or credited to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period of disposal. Unrealised gains and losses represent the movement in market values during the year and are credited or charged to the Statement of Financial Activities based on the market value at the year end. ## **Trade debtors** Trade debtors are amounts due from customers for merchandise sold or services performed in the ordinary course of business. Trade debtors are recognised initially at the transaction price. They are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less provision for impairment. A provision for the impairment of debtors is established when there is objective evidence that the charity will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the receivables. ## **Cash and cash equivalents** Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and call deposits, and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. ## **Fund structure** Unrestricted income funds are general funds that are available for use at the trustees' discretion in furtherance of the objectives of the charity. ## ARTHUR McDOUGALL FUND ENDOWMENT The Arthur McDougall Fund Endowment are funds which had been given to the Charity and were under the governing Scheme until 31 August 2014 meaning that the Trustees were required to retain the fund intact as capital (although its constituent assets may change from time to time), using it to generate income. Following Charity Commission concurrence, the Trustees obtained the power available under section 282 of the Charities Act 2011 to enable the endowment to be freed from existing restrictions with regard to the expenditure of any or all the capital. ## **2 Income from charitable activities** |Editorial cost contribution
Representation royalties
Donations|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**General**
**£**
7,500
17,409
90
24,999|**Total**
**2025**
**£**
7,500
17,409
90
24,999|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
7,500
16,870
-| |---|---|---|---| ||||24,370| Page 12 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025 (continued)** ## **3 Investment income** |Other investment income
**4**
**Expenditure on charitable activities**
Storage
Management
Editorial Assistant
Editors - expenses
Independent Examination
Insurance
IT/website costs
Archive collection costs
Library dispersal costs
Misc costs
Investment management fees|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**General**
**£**
10,288
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**General**
**£**
5,971
9,224
6,497
4,000
1,086
1,036
221
2,589
-
1,095
1,703
33,422|**Total**
**2025**
**£**
10,288
**Total**
**2025**
**£**
5,971
9,224
6,497
4,000
1,086
1,036
221
2,589
-
1,095
1,703
33,422|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
9,846| |---|---|---|---| ||||**Total**
**2024**
**£**
7,115
12,680
6,497
5,209
1,020
577
1,041
4,970
1,408
865
3,978| ||||45,360| Page 13 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025 (continued)** ## **5 Independent examiner's fees** During the period, the fees payable (excluding VAT) to the charity’s independent examiner Community Accounting Plus are analysed as follows: |Independent examination|**2025**
**£**
905
905|**2024**
**£**
850| |---|---|---| |||850| ## **6 Taxation** The charity is a registered charity and is therefore exempt from corporation taxation. ## **7 Debtors** |Trade debtors
Prepayments
**8**
**Cash and cash equivalents**
Cash at bank
**9**
**Creditors: amounts falling due after one year**
Other creditors|**2025**
**£**
-
440
440
**2025**
**£**
15,851
**2025**
**£**
1,744|**2024**
**£**
566
2,739| |---|---|---| |||3,305| |||**2024**
**£**
8,694| |||**2024**
**£ (As restated)**
1,020| ## **10 Related party transactions** There were no related party transactions in the year. ## **11 Trustees remuneration and expenses** No trustees, nor any persons connected with them, have received any remuneration from the charity during the year. Page 14 ## **Arthur McDougall Fund** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025 (continued)** ## **12 Fixed asset investments** |**12 Fixed asset investments**||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |Other investments
**Other investments**
**Cost or Valuation**
At 1 January 2025
Revaluation
At 31 December 2025
**Net book value**
At 31 December 2025
At 31 December 2024||**2025**
**£**
371,611
**Listed**
**investments**
**£**
336,893
34,718||**2024**
**£**
336,893| |||||**Total**
**£**
336,893
34,718
371,611
371,611
336,893| |||371,611||| |||371,611||| |||336,893||| Page 15