Electoral Commission chair calls out government on voter ID and finance loopholes In a recent, wide-ranging, interview with the Financial Times, John Pullinger, the chair of the Electoral Commission, expressed concerns about the government’s voter ID scheme and the threat to the Commission’s independence contained in the... Posted 25 Jan 2024
ERS in the Press – January 2024 Despite being one of our country’s shortest ever Prime Ministers Liz Truss dominated the headlines over the festive period. The ERS press team were ready and waiting to get our arguments around the House of... Posted 18 Jan 2024
New political funding rules sneak in When people are asked about the problems with money in politics, few raise the issue of there not being enough. In fact, the public are deeply concerned about big money in politics with the majority... Posted 24 Nov 2023
There is a dangerous loophole in our political financing rules Shadowy dining clubs and millions of pounds in donations. This is the realm of ‘unincorporated associations’ one of the least-regulated areas of political finance in the UK. Last week, Politico reported that these little-known entities... Posted 12 Jun 2023
The Elections Bill could open the floodgates on party funding We’ve spoken a lot about the danger of the Elections Bill, which returned to the House of Lords today. From wasting £180 million a year on an intrusive ID card scheme for voting, to hobbling... Posted 23 Feb 2022
Our democracy faces many threats – but the government has picked the wrong priority It’s not just campaigners saying it any more: democracy is officially at risk, according to parliament’s digital, culture, media and sport committee. Britain’s main campaign rules were drawn up in the late 1990s, before social... Posted 02 Aug 2018
Why money still rules the roost in British Politics If ever there was a story which revealed the disproportionate influence exerted by big party donors, it was the on the front page of The Times on Tuesday. The article set out what has been... Posted 31 Jan 2018
Referendum spending is a murky world – when it should be crystal clear Negotiations on the UK’s exit from the European Union will dominate much of the political agenda this year. But 18 months on from the Brexit referendum, questions are still being asked about whether campaigners played by... Posted 08 Jan 2018
Political parties are too reliant on big donors – and it has to change Huge swathes of the public believe big donors hold too much political sway – and yet again it has been revealed just how reliant parties are on the cash of very few. The Mirror today published research findings showing that 39% of... Posted 05 Jan 2018