(1) Subject to section 91(1) and (2), the annual statement of accounts of a political party, and of each of its subsidiary organisations, in respect of a financial year shall be audited by a statutory auditor.

(2) The first accounts required to be audited under subsection (1) shall be in respect of the first financial year which commences after guidelines are published.

(3) An audit under this section shall be carried out by the end of the period of 6 months from the end of the financial year to which the relevant accounts relate.

(4) If it appears to the Commission that any accounts required to be audited under subsection (1) have not been duly audited within the period specified in subsection (3), the Commission may appoint a statutory auditor to audit the accounts.

(5) The expenses incurred in the carrying out of an audit by a person appointed under subsection (4), including the auditor's remuneration, may be recovered by the Commission as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction from the political party concerned.

(6) In this section, 'statutory auditor' has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Companies Act 2014.