Political Parties and Elections Act 2009

Debate between Lord Khan of Burnley and Lord Wallace of Saltaire

Thursday 12th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords—

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

My Lords, if we are talking about motes and beams in different parties, will the Government now publish the redacted elements of the Intelligence and Security Committee’s Russia report on Russian money flowing into the Conservative Party? While I am on my feet, do the Government intend to simplify in any sense the great mess of electoral law, given that the Law Commission has done a lot of work on this and that electoral registration officers struggle with the various Acts—some of which are still extant, others of which have largely been expunged—in accordance with which they have to conduct their affairs?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, I hope the noble Lord can understand that I am not able to comment on any particular donations to parties. It is not for government to interfere with that. But he makes a very interesting point, so I will take a moment to let the House know that, as set out in our manifesto, we are committed to strengthening our democracy, widening participation and upholding the integrity of elections. This includes improving voter registration, extending the electoral franchise to 16 and 17 year-olds, reviewing and addressing voter ID rules, and strengthening rules around donations to political parties. I can let noble Lords across the House know that we will be bringing an election Bill within this Parliament, hopefully in the very near future.

Political Parties: Donations from Abroad

Debate between Lord Khan of Burnley and Lord Wallace of Saltaire

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

Any proposals that we bring forward are likely to require legislation, and although the Government have not included this in the timetable for this Session, we have promised to do it in our manifesto. I can assure all noble Lords that, once we have developed our proposals, we will inform Parliament and consult widely.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

My Lords, I am very happy to find that the Conservative Party has rediscovered the idea of consensus now that it is in opposition. I am not sure we want to ban all foreign donations, particularly those from pressure groups and think tanks, but transparency is essential. We need to know who is funding these bodies. Will the Government look again at the need for transparency in reporting where funds come from for all think tanks—left wing, right wing or whatever—that are involved in attempting to influence the political process?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

I think it always good to have consensus across the House and in politics. On the noble Lord’s point about transparency, as stated, we are looking at strengthening the rules around donations. To do so, we will look at all the evidence and in due course we will set out our proposals.