Our letter to Rushanara Ali MP: Strengthen political finance rules in the forthcoming Elections Bill

3rd July, 2025

Dear Rushanara,                                                                                                    

We write to you as a group of civil society organisations and independent think tanks working on issues of electoral integrity and anti-corruption in UK politics - particularly on areas around political finance in the UK.

We welcome your commitment to publish a policy statement on this issue this summer, building on Labour Manifesto commitments about restoring public service in Westminster, which included strengthening the rules around donations to political parties. An “Elections Bill” represents an important opportunity to strengthen democracy in the UK, restore trust in our politics, and secure the integrity of UK elections in an increasingly volatile world. 

However, we are writing to urge you to be as ambitious as possible and ensure the Bill contains comprehensive reforms addressing current loopholes in political finance laws. Without this, the Bill risks leaving our elections dangerously exposed to foreign interference, the influence of mega-donations, and will ultimately fail to protect our elections from malign influence and threats at home and abroad.

Hostile state actors, kleptocrats, and the super-rich can easily sidestep the UK’s permissibility rules and funnel money, via UK-registered shell companies and unincorporated associations, into our political parties. Parties’ unhealthy dependence on a handful of large donors also poses a risk of capture by narrow vested interests. Over half of the £85 million in reported donations from private sources in 2023, £45 million, came from just 19 individuals giving more than £1m each.

Independent expert bodies, including the Electoral Commission, the Committee on Standards in Public Life and civil society, broadly agree on the problems with our political finance system – and on the changes that are needed to safeguard it from foreign interference and dirty money. 

To rise to this challenge we need an Elections Bill to include the following reforms:

Close loopholes and foreign interference:

• Require unincorporated associations to conduct permissibility checks on donations and disclose the source of these funds. We must also ensure rules banning proxy donations are clearly defined and enforceable.

• Introduce new rules to ensure corporate donations cannot exceed amounts greater than profits recently generated in the UK, prohibit donations from those with public contracts, and ensure that corporate donations are not allowed where the owners are not permissible donors.

Limit the influence of mega-donations:

• Reduce spending limits and require annual reporting for political parties, not just during election periods.

• Put a cap on donations, ban donations via cryptocurrencies, and require parties to identify the true source of funds as part of a risk-based approach to donations.

Increase oversight and enforcement:

• Strengthen the civil and criminal enforcement regime for electoral finance

• Restore and bolster the independence of the Electoral Commission, reinstating the ability to set its own strategy.

We are keen to support you to deliver on this important agenda. Representatives of the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition would welcome a meeting and further engagement ahead of the next steps for the legislation.

Sincerely,

The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition
Transparency International UK
Patriotic Millionaires UK
Electoral Reform Society
Radix Big Tent
The Autonomy Institute
Spotlight on Corruption
The UK Open Government Network
Unlock Democracy
Compassion in Politics
Centre for Finance and Security at the Royal United Services Institute
Make Votes Matter 
Byline Times