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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the answer of 20 March 2026, to Question 119947, on Money Laundering: Montenegro, whether any assessment has been made of whether laundered money from the West Balkans has entered the UK political system in the form of political donations or donations in kind.

Donations from individuals or organisations without a qualifying connection to the UK are prohibited.

Recipients of political donations are required to take all reasonable steps to check that donations come from permissible donors and to report donations above statutory thresholds to the Electoral Commission. It is a criminal offence to accept, facilitate or disguise an impermissible donation.

Following publication of the independent Rycroft Review on 25 March 2026, the Government set out steps to strengthen the UK’s political finance framework to address the risk of foreign financial interference, including through the Representation of the People Bill, which will introduce a cap on donations from overseas electors and a moratorium on donations via cryptoassets, and will strengthen donation rules across the regime, which remain subject to strict permissibility, transparency and enforcement requirements to ensure the true source of funds is identifiable and lawful.