Electoral Resilience

Will Forster Excerpts

Tuesday 16th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

It is an independent review, and the reviewer and his team will be able to look at whatever they think may be problematic relating to the core terms of reference. The central part of those terms of reference is to focus on potential malign foreign financial interference in UK politics. That may or may not have a bearing on the point my hon. Friend raises.

[Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)]

The Secretary of State is right to highlight the appalling case of a senior UK politician being convicted of bribery for taking money from Russia. I am also concerned about a UK political party getting a donation—the largest single donation from a living person—from money abroad, from cryptocurrency. Can he assure me that this independent review, which I welcome, will consider political donations and potentially recommend where we set a political donation cap?

[Steve Reed]

The hon. Member is absolutely right to raise concerns about cryptocurrency. There is no way of knowing for certain what the origins of that financing might be. It appears to be potentially a back door for malign foreign actors or states to seek to influence British democracy, and we cannot allow that. It will be up to the independent reviewer to choose where he wishes to go with the investigation, but I am sure that the hon. Member and other members of his party will make clear the points he has just made and that they will be fully considered.