Taking big money out of politics

For our democracy to function, people must be confident politicians act in the interests of their constituents and political influence cannot simply be bought. Whilst individual donations have a role to play within a healthy democratic system, there is a clear danger in allowing excessively large donations from a small number of wealthy individuals.

Nigel Farage's Reform Party has received £72 million in donations from two cryptocurrency billionaires who spend little time in the UK. Contributions on this scale risk giving a handful of wealthy donors disproportionate influence over our politics and raise legitimate questions concerning Reform’s recent calls to deregulate the cryptocurrency market. 

I supported and voted for the Representation of the People Bill because it delivers several long-standing Liberal Democrat priorities, including automatic voter registration, restricting foreign donations and restoring the independence of the Electoral Commission. However, the Bill does not go far enough in addressing the growing concentration of political funding among a small number of extremely wealthy donors. Most significantly, the Government failed to introduce a cap on political donations. 

The Liberal Democrats are consequently calling on the Government to introduce emergency legislation to cap political donations. We will also use our considerable influence in the House of Lords in an attempt to amend the Bill accordingly. No one should be able to buy undue influence in British politics and we must strengthen the rules governing political finance to protect public trust and prevent corruption at the highest levels of government.