The Political Parties and Elections Bill was published. The Bill was designed to strengthen the regulatory role of the Electoral Commission, introduce greater transparency of political donations, and strengthen the arrangements for regulating candidate expenditure.
Source: Political Parties and Elections Bill, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | MOJ press release
Date: 2008-Jul
The government published a White Paper on party finance and expenditure. The Electoral Commission would be given more effective investigatory powers, and there would be a tighter definition of what counted as campaign spending.
Source: Party Finance and Expenditure in the United Kingdom: The government's proposals, Cm 7329, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: White Paper | Hansard | MOJ press release | Unlock Democracy press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2008-Jun
A think-tank report said that it was a 'myth' that financial aid to political parties was low: since the late 1960s there had been a huge growth in indirect state subsidies. It also dismissed the idea that there was an 'arms race' in spending between parties – overall political spending had remained 'surprisingly constant' in real terms.
Source: Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, Paying for the Party: Myths and realities in British political finance, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Apr
The opposition Conservative Party published a taskforce report which set out a programme for restoring public respect for the political system. The measures proposed included: reforming party funding, with caps on donations and general election spending; changing the way breaches of the ministerial code were handled; ending the system whereby MPs voted on their own pay; tightening up the MPs' allowance system; and resolving the issue of ministers taking jobs after they stepped down from office.
Source: Democracy Task Force, Trust in Politics: A programme for restoring public respect for the political system, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Report | Conservative Party press release
Date: 2008-Jan
An annual survey of social attitudes found that the gap between 'left-wing' and 'right-wing' values among the public had declined, mirroring the increasing closeness of the policy positions of the two main political parties. People were less likely to support extra spending on welfare: in 1987, 55 per cent thought that government should spend more on welfare benefits, compared to 35 per cent in 2007.
Source: Robert Johns and Stephen Padgett, 'The role of government: public values and party politics' in Alison Park, John Curtice, Katarina Thomson, Miranda Phillips and Mark Johnson (eds.), British Social Attitudes: The 24th Report, SAGE Publications Ltd (020 7324 8500)
Links: Summary | NatCen press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2008-Jan