Anni has worked across commercial, political and not for profit sectors in her 25 years as a public relations consultant. Her client list has included such diverse organisations as a radiator manufacturer, local council, science start-ups and even a synchronised swimming team.
Most recently she has been focused on the campaigning sector. As Campaign Manager for the Equal Civil Partnerships Campaign she is part of the team who succeeded in introducing mixed-sex civil partnerships in England and Wales at the end of 2019.
The following is a letter signed by 19 leading civil society organisations, addressing the upcoming Elections Bill, shared in the Guardian.
Dear Secretary of State and Minister,
We welcome the government’s election strategy announced in July.
We believe many of the proposals it contains - like extending the franchise to 16-year-olds - could be transformative measures which would renew our democracy and make it fairer for ordinary people.
For this reason, we - 19 leading civil society organisations - are urging the government to urgently introduce a more ambitious Elections Bill.
There are a few key areas we want to draw your attention to now:
Money in politics
We welcome the government’s commitment to strengthen rules around political donations. With trust in politics at record lows1, it is a vital step in building confidence in our democracy. Measures to prevent foreign money from influencing our politics by preventing shell companies from making political donations are long overdue and we strongly support a two-step approach that considers both profit and ownership.
But foreign corporate donations are not the only problem. Transparency International UK highlight that in 2023, just 19 mega-donors gave £56.6million in donations, totalling 66% of all donations from private sources - something the public are deeply concerned about.2 3 A donations cap is the best way to protect our democracy and to rebuild voter confidence in the system.
In addition, we would urge you to consider safeguards against future threats by following countries like Ireland and Brazil and banning the use of cryptocurrency for political donations, given their untraceability.
Automatic Voter Registration
Introducing automatic voter registration (AVR) is an essential step and we warmly welcome proposals to pilot this measure. In 2023 the Electoral Commission estimated that between 7 and 8 million voters were missing from the electoral rolls. We must not have another General Election with so many eligible voters missing. With the pilots of AVR in Wales reporting at the end of this year, we would urge you to prepare to launch pilots as soon as possible with a wide range of local authorities.
Electoral Commission Independence
Controversial powers introduced under the previous Government’s Elections Act (2022) have stripped the Electoral Commission of its independence by enabling ministers to designate a Strategy and Policy statement for the regulator. This creates serious risks of interference and political capture of the regulator. While it may seem politically expedient to maintain this power while in Government, it is essential that independence be returned to ensure that no party in power can interfere with elections. Additionally, updates to the Speaker's Committee should also be made to ensure it cannot be subject to government control.
We look forward to working with you to ensure the Elections Bill is world-leading legislation that safeguards the integrity and fairness of our elections.
Yours sincerely,
The Undersigned
Jess Garland, Director of Research and Policy, Electoral Reform Society Peter Jukes, Executive Editor, Byline Times
Emma Harrison, CEO, Make Votes Matter
Ben Rich, CE0, Radix Big Tent
Timi Okuwa, CEO, Black Equity Organisation
Jennifer Nadel, CEO, Compassion in Politics
Daniel Bruce, Chief Executive, Transparency International UK
Peter Munro, Coalition Policy Manager, The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition Susan Hawley, Executive Director, Spotlight on Corruption
Kyle Taylor, Founder and Director, Fair Vote UK
Will Snell, CEO, Fairness Foundation
Paul Smyth, Executive Director, Politics in Action
Emily Crudden McIlhatton, Campaigns Organiser, Politics in Action
Eliza Lockhart, Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI
Mark E Thomas, Founder, The 99% Organisation
Ben Twomey, Chief Executive, Generation Rent
Nick Lowles, CEO, HOPE not hate
Tom Brake, CEO, Unlock Democracy
Mark Kieran, CEO, Open Britain
Professor Toby James, Co-Director, Electoral Integrity Project
