Lobbying is a word that can be used to describe all manner of sins in Westminster. It has hit the headlines again courtesy of Peter Mandelson and his relationship to convicted paedophile Epstein. But what is lobbying, and how do we clean it up?
What is lobbying?
Lobbying is a practice that is as commonplace in Westminster as the mice who run along the corridors of Parliament.
Lobbyists attempt to influence government officials. But, lobbying is not inherently a bad thing, the ERS lobbies. We email MPs, researchers and Peers across the political spectrum. We organise meetings with parliamentarians and their staff to inform them of our latest research. It’s important that the government get the opinions of people outside Westminster.
Most of these meetings come via the relationships you naturally build by working in Westminster. To follow up an informal introduction in the pub to an MP’s staffer with an email requesting a meeting is as natural as breathing.
The key distinction between the lobbying we do and what has been exposed this week is that the lobbying I refer to does not operate using an elite network of people within government or influential institutions like banks. It’s more like a quick coffee dodging leaks in Portcullis House in full view of journalists and staffers who stroll through.
A look into Mandelson’s methods
Lobbying and transparency in Westminster have made the news because of the release of the ‘Epstein files’ by the American Department of Justice.
The files appear to show Peter Mandelson encouraging Epstein to ask the head of JP Morgan to ‘shout at’ the Chancellor to try and change the government’s course on a tax on banker’s bonuses in 2009.
What is laid bare by the documents is that in Westminster the majority of lobbying is conducted through personal relationships with no formal channels.
The Westminster system relies on the trust and discretion of friends and acquaintances, not fair play and oversight.
So what are the Westminster lobbying rules?
Efforts have been made to regulate this system, but the current piecemeal rules do not get to the heart of the issue on the parliamentary estate.
The Register of Consultant Lobbyists was created in 2014 but only covers consultancies; firms who lobby on behalf of clients who pay them. They must sign the register and disclose the clients who have employed them.
However, they only have to register their meetings when they lobby government Ministers or Permanent Secretaries. Nor do they have to say what they spoke about, the meetings or their outcomes.
This leaves the majority of lobbying undeclared.
The register does not cover public affairs professionals hired in house to lobby only for that company, trade bodies, unions, or charities. Not to mention any lobbying at all of backbench MPs, staff or Peers.
Some peers are themselves lobbyists – at least 50 members of the House of Lords worked for lobbying firms in 2025.
The lobbying register in Westminster focuses on the companies doing the lobbying and refuses to confront the realities of how networking and lobbying works in SW1.
What is the solution?
In terms of understanding the complex interpersonal nature of lobbying and regulating it, Westminster is being outstripped by Holyrood.
The Scottish lobbying register, started in 2018, focuses not on consultancies but the activity of lobbying itself.
In Scotland, you must register as a lobbyist if you are a consultancy, you work in-house for a company lobbying directly on their behalf, or ‘lobby regularly’ which captures unions and charities.
They must disclose who was lobbied, when it took place, who did the lobbying and the subject matter that was discussed.
What is counted as lobbying in Holyrood is more expansive than in Westminster. It includes the lobbying of not only Scottish Ministers but all MSPs, their staff and senior civil servants. So, the register doesn’t just focus on top-level Ministers, but where real influencing happens. In the background.
The Scottish solution is proportionate and aims not to discourage lobbying but bring it into the light. By no means is the Scottish register perfect, there are still loopholes, but they have created a public, searchable record of influence, not just a list of names.
We need a real lobbying register for Westminster
With trust in politics at an all-time low and our rankings in corruption registers slipping, this is not a trajectory we can afford to continue.
Our politics is being left at the mercy of powerful individuals, which is fuelling public cynicism and disengagement.
Without a lobbying register that meets the scale of the practice, the back corridors of Westminster will remain in the shadows.
The upcoming Representation of the People Bill is an opportunity to rectify this situation and bring us in line with the best practice.
When it comes to politics, sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Support the Electoral Reform Society
International bankers don’t ring ministers on our behalf. Every contribution, however small, supports our work in parliament, in the press and online – making the case, and backing it up – for how we can fix Westminster’s broken system. Support the Electoral Reform Society from as little as £2 a month – it only takes a minute. Thank you.
Join the Electoral Reform Society