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Author
Anni Johnson
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.
#PoliticsNotForSale - politicians must act now before it's too late
Imagine waking up this morning with a spare £4 or £5 million in your bank account. What are you going to spend it on? A quick search on Rightmove brings up a home with a pool in Cornwall, a country estate in Yorkshire or a penthouse on the Strand…. Choices, choices… what about something in Westminster? What about influence in a political party? What about an MP? What about a Prime Minister?
Mega donations to political parties have surged in recent years with billionaire individual donors reaching into their capacious pockets to fund the party - and policies - that they feel best serves them. We are all now well aware of Thai-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harbourne’s donation to Reform of £9 Million, the biggest single political donation ever made in Britain, as well as his totally without strings, obviously, personal gift of £5 million to Nigel Farage - a sum that would take the average wage-earner in the UK 125 years to save up. He’s not the only one though; whilst Harborne’s little gift is the Burj Khalifa of donations in the UK, Reform isn’t alone in enjoying generous financial support from individuals. All mainstream parties, bar the Greens, have benefited from wealthy friends.
150 years ago, with the 1867 Reform Act, Britain got rid of pocket boroughs, where rich patrons could and did buy over half the properties of ‘burgage tenements’ in a constituency, the occupants of which had the right to vote. The landowner, able to evict tenants who did not vote for their preferred man, chose the MP - who was also beholden, of course, to their benefactor and happy to work in their interest.
Have we returned to these days? Parties are not bullying or bribing voters (well, not here, not yet) but increased coffers mean increased spend - increased spend on leaflets, social-media and in-person events; time, money and staffing resources spent in attracting attention and ensuring that the electorate receive a targeted message, offering them the answers that they want to believe at local and national level. Can we argue that we’ve moved so very far from the days of rotten and pocket boroughs and that the super wealthy are not able to influence elections now?
This matters. This matters because no matter what politicians may bluster, there is a quid pro quo. To misquote the late great Caroline Aherne, ‘what first attracted a crypto billionaire to a party which is increasing in strength and influence and keen to deregulate digital assets?’
This buying of influence isn’t fair. We all know this isn’t fair. But what can we do? A sad head-shake and tut just isn’t going to cut it. The Government has the opportunity now - with the Representation of the People Bill - to put measures in place to protect our democracy, to ensure that the principle of one person, one vote is sacrosanct, and we need to demand that it does so.
Following the Rycroft Review, the Government has accepted a recommendation and acted immediately to prevent personal donations of over £100,000 from overseas. This is great but it’s not enough. Reform donor Ben Delo, for example, has simply announced that he’ll return to the UK from Hong Kong to be able to continue large-scale gifts. And if overseas donations should be capped at £100,000 why not ones from inside the UK?
The #PoliticsNotForSale campaign is asking for an amendment on donation caps to be included in the Bill as it comes back to parliament and we are begging MPs to support it. You can play your part by sending a postcard to your MP today to tell them you agree. MPs get so little real mail now - compared to the thousands of signatories in online petitions and email campaigns - that it really does get their attention. We’ve made it easy and quick for you, it takes two minutes, use our suggested script or put your own reasons - we need to tell politicians to act now. By the next election, it could well be too late.
