Conservatives publish proof DWP officials conspired with ‘independent’ statistics regulator for eve-of-election attack on Badenoch

Today [Wednesday 24^th June 2026], the Conservative Party has published evidence of the Department of Work and Pensions encouraging the UK Statistics Authority to engage politically against the Leader of the Opposition.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act expose a co-ordinated effort between officials at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for Statistics Regulation, the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority, to produce a public letter attacking the Leader of the Opposition less than 24 hours before voters went to the polls on 7 May 2026.

In heavily redacted correspondence published today, officials in a government department are shown to be working hand in glove with an independent regulator to land a public rebuke of the Leader of the Opposition the afternoon before polling day. This raises serious questions about the independence of the regulator and the conduct of government officials in the final hours of an election campaign.

Correspondence highlights:

• On 29 April 2026, the Leader of the Opposition said at Prime Minister's Questions that 1.5 million more people were out of work and claiming Universal Credit since Labour took office.

• On 29 April 2026, a private individual shared an X post related to the statement made by Kemi Badenoch MP with the Head of the Office for Statistics Regulation by email. Subsequently, the Head of the OSR asked the OSR casework team to open an internal case.

• On 30 April 2026 at 14:37, the Office for Statistics Regulation emailed the Department for Work and Pensions asking for the best source of statistics to challenge the claim, writing: Any public intervention would be before the election, so I will keep you updated.'

• On 30 April 2026 at 16:45, the Department's Deputy Head of Profession for Statistics wrote to the Universal Credit Official Statistics team: I will provide my commentary and your additions.' By the end of the day, DWP statisticians from the Universal Credit Official Statistics team, the Labour Market Strategic Analysis and Briefing Team and the Universal Credit Analysis Division had been mobilised.

• On 1 May 2026 at 14:43, Rob Kent-Smith, Deputy Head of the Office for Statistics Regulation, sent the DWP Chief Statistician a draft of the public letter the regulator proposed to send to the Leader of the Opposition, writing: there are divergent views on whether we should intervene in this case, but we have worked up a draft public letter below.'

• On 5 May 2026 at 10:09, the Department's Head of Client Statistics wrote: Agree this looks reasonable to me, and I would be very supportive of OSR sharing this kind of response to the Leader of the Opposition statement.'

• On 5 May 2026 at 13:31, the Chief Statistician, Steve Ellerd-Elliott, wrote to the Office for Statistics Regulation: This letter looks reasonable and is correct in terms of content. I think this is important to call out.'

• On 5 May 2026 at 14:23, the Office for Statistics Regulation replied, thanking him and adding: And to your statisticians for working with the domain on this as well '.

• On 5 May 2026 at 16:01, Mr Ellerd-Elliott replied: I am pleased to hear you will be writing.'

• On 6 May 2026 at 14:00, the letter from the Interim Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Penny Young, was published.

• On 7 May 2026 at 09:38, the morning of polling day, the Head of Private Office Analysis at the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed onward circulation of the published letter within Private Office, writing: I will share with some colleagues in PO. Some may already have seen.'

The UK Statistics Authority is, by statute, independent of government, whilst the Office for Statistics Regulation, exists to safeguard the public's confidence in statistics.

Civil servants in the Department for Work and Pensions are bound by the Civil Service Code. The Cabinet Office'sMay 2026 Elections: guidance on conduct for civil servants, issued on 2 March 2026, restates that civil servants must not undertake any activity that could call into question their political impartiality'. The pre-election period for UK Government civil servants for the May 2026 local elections began on 16 April 2026 and applied throughout the events disclosed in this correspondence.

Potential breaches:

• The Office for Statistics Regulation's own internal record shows officials there knew opinion was split on whether to intervene at all and proceeded anyway during a pre-election period. The regulator stated in writing on 30 April that any public intervention would be before the election'. The publication landed at 1400 on the eve of polling day. This is precisely the kind of public action a politically impartial regulator and a politically impartial Department should have postponed until after polling stations closed in order to adhere to Cabinet Office guidance.

• Senior officials in the Department of Work and Pensions actively cheered the publication on. They expressed themselves very supportive', said the intervention was important to call out', and were pleased to hear' the regulator would write.

• The disclosure shows the published letter was passed through to DWP Private Office on the morning of polling day itself. Routing a regulator's public attack on the Opposition through that channel, hours before voters cast their ballots, raises serious questions about who in the Department knew, who in the Department approved, and whether ministers or special advisers were sighted on any of it.

The Conservative Party are demanding a full investigation by the Cabinet Secretary, the publication of every remaining piece of correspondence, and assurances that the independence of the UK Statistics Authority and the impartiality of the Civil Service will be restored.

A Conservative Party spokesman said:

The Department for Work and Pensions should not be coaching a regulator on how to land a hit on the Leader of the Opposition the day before polling day. The emails released today show DWP officials reading the draft, cheering it on, and being pleased to hear' the letter would land before voters went to the polls.

The Conservative Party are demanding a full investigation by the Cabinet Secretary, the publication of every remaining piece of correspondence, and assurances that the independence of the UK Statistics Authority and the impartiality of the Civil Service will be restored.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• Freedom of Information request from the Department of Work and Pensions detailing correspondence(Department for Work and Pensions, Freedom of Information request, 8 June 2026, available on request).

• The published letter from Penny Young, Interim Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, to the Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP was issued at 1400 on 6 May 2026 (UK Statistics Authority, Letter from Penny Young to Kemi Badenoch MP niversal Credit claimants, 6 May 2026, link).

• The pre-election period for UK Government civil servants for the May 2026 local and mayoral elections began on Thursday 16 April 2026., which instructed civil servants not to undertake any activity that could call into question their political impartiality' (Cabinet Office, May 2026 Elections: guidance on conduct for civil servants, 2 March 2026, link).

Starmer using misusing statistics:

• In his resignation speech, Keir Starmer claimed that Britain's economy is growing faster than our peers' but the economy is shrinking. In his resignation speech, Keir Starmer claimed to leave an economy that is stronger, growing faster than our peers'. However, the ONS confirmed that monthly GDP contracted by 0.1 per cent in April 2026 (ONS, GDP monthly estimate, UK: April 2026, 12 June 2026, link).

• In his resignation speech, Keir Starmer claimed that Labour delivered the fastest fall in NHS waiting lists for 17 years' but only due to unreported removals. In his resignation speech, Keir Starmer claimed to deliver the fastest fall in NHS waiting lists for 17 years' but, as reported by Sky News: A significant proportion is because Labour has incentivised NHS Trusts to improve "validation" efforts - checking the list and removing cases that don't need to be there, even if they have not actually received any NHS care' (Sky News, 12 February 2026,link).

• In his resignation speech, Keir Starmer claimed that small boat crossings [are] falling' but Labour's first full year in office saw the highest number of small boat crossings (41,472) since 2022. In his resignation speech, Keir Starmer claimed that small boat crossings [are] falling'. However, 41,472 illegal immigrants crossed on small boats in Labour's first full year in charge. This was higher an increase of over 10 per cent on 2024 and higher than 2023 too. (Home Office, Transparency Data, 4 June 2026, link).