By stewartb

There are critical voices raised regarding the financing of politics in the UK but the issue seems to gain little immediate and certainly no sustained MSM attention. (A bit like wider electoral reform?)

The Electoral Reform Society on February 19, 2026 published this: ‘Briefing on Political Finance’ (https://electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/parliamentary-briefings/briefing-on-political-finance/ )

It’s very revealing about political financing in the UK, and worrying for UK democracy especially in the context of Westminster’s FPTP voting system that can give so much power to a party achieving a minority of the popular vote, enabled by huge and often ‘dark’ donations and loans.

Examples from the Briefing. Firstly on the role of Unincorporated Associations (UAs) – ‘there are currently no requirements for those who give money to UAs to themselves be permissible donors. This opens-up the possibility of UAs being used to channel funds from impermissible sources such as overseas donors. ‘

‘It is clear from the lack of information provided by UAs that a considerable amount of funding is passing below the reporting requirements. Transparency International UK have found that of the £40.4 million in donations made by Unincorporated Associations since 2010 only £127,500 has been reported in the gifts register and only £1.7 million has come from UAs that are also member associations. This leaves £38.6 million in party funding coming from unknown sources.

‘Moreover, donations to candidates, rather than political parties, from Unincorporated Association are not covered by any transparency requirements.’

And with respect to peer countries internationally: ‘.. comparatively the UK’s disclosure requirements are weak and there is little justification for the recent increase in threshold. ‘

On digital campaigning: ‘The amount spent on digital communications has grown exponentially over the last three General Elections creating new problems for transparency in political spending. Research has found that spending on digital platforms increased by 50% between 2017 and 2019 and that over half of advertising spend in the 2019 General Election was spent on social media.

‘However, online advertising does not constitute a separate category of spending, and supplier invoices often lack information on what the money was spent on. (Might want to read that last phrase again!!!)

‘In addition, researchers have found that in the 2019 General Election, around 14 per cent of campaign expenditure (£6.6 million) could not be categorised because the invoices were unclear.

‘A lack of detailed information means voters are unaware of the how they are being influenced.’

The Society’s briefing concludes: ‘Unequal distribution of political funding can create skewed electoral outcomes reducing competition and limiting voter choice. Unrestricted use of financial and other resources mean unequal distributions of wealth are transferred to the political system and this threatens the principle of equal votes. For these reasons, trying to ensure a reasonably level playing field is a condition of electoral fairness and an important component of political finance regulation.’