All lobbying of British government ministers, their advisers and senior officials should in future be recorded publicly. This is the demand of a review led by Doug Chalmers, head of the United Kingdom's Committee on Standards in Public Life. It proposes a new register disclosing who is seeking to influence which policy areas and who is making contact with the government.
Implementation would require an extensive legislative process. Chalmers stressed, however, that the overhaul is essential to restoring trust in the government's standards system. He criticized the current British lobbying register for failing to deliver the required transparency, thereby falling short of the so-called Nolan Principles for public office, which demand accountability and openness.
The review was triggered by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in connection with the affair surrounding Peter Mandelson, who, while serving as ambassador to the US, continued to hold a stake in a lobbying firm. It will fall to Andy Burnham, seen as a possible successor to Starmer as prime minister, to decide on the government's response to the recommendations.
According to the commission, the existing lobbying register currently covers only four to six percent of actual lobbying activity, due to numerous exemptions – for instance for VAT-exempt actors or contacts with ministers classified as "incidental." Lobbying scandals have repeatedly caused a stir in Westminster, such as when former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, after leaving office, attempted to influence the government on behalf of his later employer Greensill Capital, which subsequently collapsed.
Key demands of the report
Among other things, the commission demands that every person or organization engaged in lobbying must register and report their activities. The disclosure requirement should also apply to communication with special advisers, director-generals and other senior government advisers, not just ministers and secretaries of state as at present. Informal channels such as WhatsApp messages or conversations on the sidelines of party conferences should also be declared in future.
The report also proposes an AI-supported platform to make the register searchable, along with significantly higher fines for violations of the Lobbying Act. Ministers and officials should be required to decline meetings if the other party is not listed in the register.
Alastair McCapra, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, welcomed the proposals. He said they would "fundamentally change the relationship between lobbyists and Westminster." Public trust had been damaged by ongoing lobbying scandals, McCapra said. He noted that Britain currently has the least transparent lobbying register in the West.