Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help tackle foreign financial interference in domestic politics from (a) Open Society Foundations and (b) think tanks and academics funded by foreign governments.

The UK Government takes attempts by any country to intervene in democratic processes very seriously. It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect our democratic and electoral processes, including from covert political funding.

The National Security Act 2023 provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats, including interference. Amongst other things, it is illegal for foreign states to engage in conduct that interferes with our elections and other political processes. The Act also provides for the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS). The scheme’s aims are twofold: firstly, to strengthen the resilience of the UK political system against covert foreign influence and, secondly, to provide greater assurance around the activities of specified foreign powers or entities who pose a national security risk to the UK.

In addition, as set out by the Security Minister in Parliament on 4 March, under the counter-political interference and espionage plan, officials are developing a programme of work to engage with the UK’s think-tanks and non-profit sector to discuss the threats that they face from foreign interference.

In December 2025, the Secretary of State commissioned former permanent secretary Philip Rycroft to lead an independent review into foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. The government is committed to responding formally and in full to the Rycroft Review in advance of the Commons report stage of the Representation of the People Bill.