Call for party funding overhaul to defend against 'cash for access', in wake of fresh allegations

Monday, 2 August 2021 15:47

Commenting on fresh allegations about guaranteed access to UK ministers in exchange for Conservative party donations, Darren Hughes, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: “From cash-for-access to donations-for-peerages, Britain’s party funding system is a never-ending scandal. “Voters strongly believe – with good reason – that big money can buy access to the top table of our political parties and indeed our government. We need a much fairer, level-playing field,...Request free trial

Commenting on fresh allegations about guaranteed access to UK ministers in exchange for Conservative party donations, Darren Hughes, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said:

“From cash-for-access to donations-for-peerages, Britain’s party funding system is a never-ending scandal.

“Voters strongly believe – with good reason – that big money can buy access to the top table of our political parties and indeed our government. We need a much fairer, level-playing field, without parties desperately selling access for cash. This corrosive state of affairs is enabled by the fact that politics at Westminster is so centralised, with governing parties securing unfettered power on a minority of the vote.

“Since ministers can appoint donors to government bodies and the House of Lords, the glaring risks of conflicts of interest are clear to see.

“The government’s Elections Bill is a missed opportunity to restore confidence in Britain’s broken politics. Ministers should pause this legislation to implement the recommendations of the recent Committee on Standards in Public Life report, which called for a clampdown on foreign donations and secretive ‘Unincorporated Associations’. These would be stepping-stone to a reformed party funding system.

“There is a glaring lack of transparency that only fosters distrust and – often justified – fears over who is steering our political debate.

“Since our report ‘Democracy in the Dark’ [2], we have seen more lobbying and party funding scandals – and who knows how many are still to be revealed. As things stand, ordinary voters are being sidelined to make room for those with the biggest pockets. We need more than hand-wringing, and the resigned acceptance that “nothing can be done”. Such attitudes not only reward bad behaviour, it encourages more of it. Voters are looking for decisive action, not defeatism.

“It’s time to fix the rot and restore faith in politics. We need to explore a cap on donations, greater public funding to bring us into line with most advanced democracies, and real reform at Westminster to ensure the powerful cannot purchase access or peerages.”

Polling in July by Savanta ComRes found that 70% of voters believe that 'people with large amounts of money can use it to 'buy' influence in Westminster and UK politics', a view shared by 73% of Conservatives. Around half - 49% - of voters say that the problem has increased in recent years (to just 5% who disagree). The largest group - 39% - of people say that the problem is equally significant, no matter who is in government [3].

ENDS

Notes to Editors

[1] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/access-capitalism-scandal-a-dinner-with-prince-charles-then-the-begging-letter-arrived-kngk0xqfk

The FT has also revealed today that a major Conservative donor ‘received $4m from a company he knew to be secretly owned by a powerful Russian, who was at the time a senior member of Vladimir Putin’s regime, according to three people with direct knowledge of his business dealings’ https://www.ft.com/content/4b922f07-9919-4648-915e-065011221906

[2] https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/publications/democracy-in-the-dark-digital-campaigning-in-the-2019-general-election-and-beyond/

[3] See cross-tabs here. Poll of 2176 GB adults by Savanta ComRes, fieldwork conducted 2nd-4th July 2021: https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Party-funding-polling-July-2021-Savanta.xlsx