Back in 2015 we published Deal or No Deal which looked at public attitudes to political finance following the failed cross-party talks on implementing the Committee on Standards in Public Life recommendations, including a cap on donations. Our research found a receptive audience for party funding reform including donations caps, spending caps and greater public funding. Whilst the parties failed to reach an agreement then, in the decade since, the problem of big money in politics has got bigger.
Donations over £1million now make up 35 percent of all private donations, up from just 1% in 2015. For the first time donations as large as £100 million have been credibly talked about for UK parties. Many reports, including the recent independent review by former permanent secretary Philip Rycroft, have noted that overseas interference seeking to undermine our democracy is a very real threat.
The danger now is not just that the global ultra-rich can unduly influence political parties but that they could effectively buy them outright.
How much for that party in the window?
In this escalating free-for-all on political finance, it has been enormously welcome to see the government act, firstly by addressing known loopholes in the rules and secondly by accepting, in full, the recommendations of the Rycroft review on securing political finance from foreign interference. These much-needed changes include a moratorium on donations made in cryptocurrency and a limit on donations from overseas funders.
These changes go a long way to secure party finance but they do not directly address the concerns voters have that our politics is for sale. A full sixty percent (60%) of people think that wealthy donors give money to gain influence, only 6% believe it is driven by a desire to support that party.
People understandably question what wealthy individuals expect in return for these eye-watering sums and those suspicions have a corrosive effect on trust in our democracy. To compound this, the UK is out of step with many other comparable countries in not having any cap on donations to political parties. This leaves us uniquely exposed at a time when we are seeing ever-increasing sums of money offered to political parties.
Currently, there is a big metaphorical ‘for sale’ sign on our politics and voters know it.
What would build trust in political finance?
Electoral Commission research on public trust in political finance has found that people want a system that serves the interests of voters not donors. The changes that were most supported were a donation limit, increasing public funding, closing loopholes and increasing the maximum fine. Ninety-three percent (93%) of participants agreed that action on these issues would help build trust in the political finance system.
The Representation of the People bill goes a long way to secure known finance loopholes and paves the way to increase the Electoral Commission’s maximum fine but does not yet address the issue of donation size.
The Representation of the People bill is our chance to rebuild trust
Big money in politics is a growing problem both for the security of our democracy and for people’s faith in it. The Representation of the People bill when it returns to parliament later this year, is a chance to fix this. Members of Parliament have tabled amendments to put a cap on all donations – a move that has enormous public support. Only 15 percent of the public think that there should be no limit on the amount anyone can give.
After a decade of inaction on political finance and in a climate of ever lower levels of public trust in our politics, this government has a unique opportunity to go further on political finance reform and complete the job.
MPs are debating changes to the rules that govern political funding
Add your name to tell them that our democracy is not for sale