Time for greater State funding of political parties

This represents a change of mind. I have always been wary of State funding of political parties. It feels too cosy, too unaccountable and may cause further alienation of the public from Westminster. No longer.

The FT and The Sunday Times have just undertaken an admirable investigation into the funding of the Conservative Party. It makes grim reading. Huge donations from a myriad of often obscure businesses require more scrutiny. Suggested links with Russian oligarchs, a ‘Tory Advisory Board’ for those who donate more than £250k, allegations of overly close relationships between property developers and ministers leading to favourable planning decisions, all interwoven with alleged conflicts of interest between the current Tory co-chairman and his business activities do not smell good, particularly when overseen by a Prime Minister who hardly makes financial probity a priority…

Then the Labour Party has its own issues. Struggling to get donations from business, it relies far too unhealthily on trade union funding which represented more than 90% of donations for the 2019 General election. This gives trade unions too much influence. The last blog referenced the importance of the Unite leadership election on the Party’s future direction in part due to it being Labour’s largest donor. It shouldn’t be like this particularly when only a minority of its members vote Labour in the first place. It simply hard wires the inability of the Labour Party to undertake the much-needed reforms required to modernise its offering to voters.

Finally, to the Liberal Democrats. Donations at the last General Election were a fraction of the other two parties (£1.2m for the LibDems versus £19.4m for the Conservatives and £5.4m for Labour). It neither has a firm base of business or trade union support. Tough you might say. It is a small party which has never governed on its own for over 100 years. But its parliamentary presence never reflects its share of votes fairly and many would argue we need to move away from the often-stale Hobson’s choice of the two major parties.

This country needs a better political system than we have currently. It has already been seen as not fit for purpose in managing the pandemic. The quality of politicians is falling and the choice of how we are governed is too limited. Voting reform and a written constitution seem huge hurdles to overcome but perhaps implementing an independent review of party funding is reachable.

There have been attempts to introduce reforms in 2006 and 2011. These involved a cap on individual donations supplemented by more state funding, but unsurprisingly self-interest meant such initiatives went nowhere.

Workable solutions are not complicated. A greater element of state funding which to some extent can replace corrosive uncapped external donations might at least breathe fresh air into our politics. It would, of course, have to be overseen and periodically adjusted in a truly independent way by a standalone body free from party political influence.

Certainly, maintenance of the status quo should no longer be an option. Something has to change and embracing reform would be a relatively easy win and positive for the body politic.