A weekly newsletter on campaigning, lobbying and political Influence in the U.K.

By JOHN JOHNSTON

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SNEAK PEEK

—Westminster’s woeful transparency record comes under the spotlight.

— The transparency bonanza continues with a wave of new reforms for APPGs.

— Labour Together relaunch with ambitious plan to deliver a Starmer landslide.

LOBBYING WESTMINSTER

TRANSPARENTLY DREADFUL: Influence got an exclusive look at a fresh audit of the government’s work on implementing transparency, lobbying and revolving door rules made in the wake of the Greensill and Paterson scandals … and the results are not good.

Shining a light: Transparency group Spotlight on Corruption have done the digging on how many of the 57 combined recommendations from the Boardman Review and the Committee on Standards in Public Life have been implemented since they were published more than 18 months ago.

And the grand total is: Four.

Those still waiting to happen: Include key (but pretty basic) measures to introduce legally binding and consistent rules around revolving door roles, improve the way in which informal lobbying efforts are recorded, and increase the regularity and quality of departmental transparency data.

Compare and contrast: Those woeful results with Rishi Sunak’s first Downing Street speech (and tacit admission of a problem) where he promised voters “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level”.

No time like the present: Speaking to Influence, Spotlight’s executive director Dr. Susan Hawley notes their report could have been published at any time due to the “rolling roster of scandals” which keep this issue on the agenda (and Influence in a job). But she said there was a growing frustration with the “complete reluctance” for ministers to act.

Blanking ministers: “There has been a whole partnership process of civil society, academics and experts asking for the government to co-create with us a commitment on improving standards,” she said. “But they have just dug their heels in and absolutely refused to engage.”

The bigger picture: Influence can scarcely believe it, but part of the problem seems to be that some voters don’t find transparency data and lobbying rules a sexy topic, and likely won’t change their votes as a result of government action (or inaction). Spotlight, however, warns the constant stench of scandal is impacting on voter engagement more broadly, and damaging trust in U.K. institutions.

Fish rots from the head: And that perception in turn has the potential to undermine both business and investor confidence, something already evidenced by the decision of rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the U.K.’s credit rating in part because of governance concerns.

Percolation nation: “The private sector are really quite despairing about it because of what it does for corruption across the board,” Hawley added. “If it’s normalized at the top of government that you give contracts to your mates, or moonlight for whoever will pay you the most money, that percolates down through society. Lots of academics have expressed the fact that it’s actually much easier to become a corrupt society than you think — and that’s actually really damaging to the whole of the social fabric, and not just trust in politics.”

International laughing stock: And none of this is remotely helpful for the U.K. as it attempts to present itself as a global watchdog on corruption while seemingly unable to get its own house in order.

There’s always a tweet: “I think a really good example of that was when the government put out a lot of anti-corruption sanctions abroad, and the FCDO’s Twitter feed went completely viral with pictures of U.K. politicians and comments saying: ‘You should look closer to home, mate’.”

It’s not rocket science: The key message from Spotlight to MPs is to stop treating ethics and transparency as a political football and just get on with implementing the recommendations that have been sitting in front of them for nearly two years.

Now pop on the kettle: And read the full Spotlight report and its line-by-line autopsy of the (lack of ) progress.

In response: A U.K. government spokesperson said: “Integrity, professionalism and accountability are the core values of this government. Our work on reforms, including those proposed by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Nigel Boardman, and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, continues, and our official response to these reports will be published in due course.” Tick tock.

LOBBYING WESTMINSTER PART TWO

SPEAKING OF TRANSPARENCY: Parliament’s Committee on Standards dropped a major new report Wednesday setting out recommendations to toughen up the rules governing All Party Parliamentary Groups, making it harder for them to become vehicles for commercial interests or hostile foreign actors exerting undue influence in Westminster.

Keeping up with the times: The committee concluded that Appgs can actually deliver a legitimate benefit to Parliament, but accepted that governance rules have failed to keep pace with the huge proliferation of these informal groups in recent years. There are now a whopping 755 APPGs registered, covering everything from individual countries and serious illnesses to more eclectic topics like jazz and wrestling.

Read this first: APPGs have come under the microscope because of plenty of reports of poor behaviour — including from POLITICO —about drunkenness and inappropriate sexual while away on foreign trips.

Two-tier approach: The new report offers a glut of new recommendations for all APPGs, but with additional measures for those who receive financial benefits from outside sources which exceed £1,500 annually.

For the many: All APPGs will be asked to limit the number of “officers” — those meant to guide an APPGs work — to four in an attempt to improve accountability.

And: MPs would only be allowed to serve as an officer of six APPGs, ending the practice of some parliamentarians who chair or officiate literally dozens of groups.

Plus: All APPGs would be required to publish an annual income and expenditure report, even if it is a nil return, to make it crystal clear who is funding them and how that cash is spent.

For the few: Those exceeding the financial benefit threshold will also be expected, in addition to the expenditure report, to publish an annual document setting out the work they have done, and a due diligence statement to ensure they’ve checked their funding hasn’t come from a prohibited foreign source.

And: Annual General Meetings of all the top-tier APPGs would be chaired by an “external” member chosen by the House of Commons Speaker to ensure “proper conduct” at key meetings.

Plus: The four named officers would be held “jointly and severally liable” for ensuring the rules are followed, adding fresh incentive for members to actually pay attention to how their APPGs are being funded.

Jollies still good: Tougher rules would prohibit APPGs from having secretariats — the outside figures or organisations who act as co-ordinators — provided or funded by foreign governments. But foreign jaunts, hospitality and other assorted festivities funded by foreign states will still be allowed, provided they are properly registered.

Passing out: One of the key changes proposed is banning the practice of granting parliamentary passes to secretariats via one of the MPs and peers involved with the group. Describing such practices as “inappropriate”, the committee also recommended that all current passes should be reviewed by parliamentary authorities with any found to be held by APPG secretariats removed. They’ve even put that bit in bold, so you know they are serious.

Scores on the doors: The report is a significant leap forward in terms of transparency and accountability given the rules on APPGs haven’t been updated for nearly a decade, but getting them over the line will require ministers to give the plans parliamentary time to be debated and approved.

We’ll report back: On how the proposals progress, and whether campaigners, MPs, peers and those involved with APPGs are happy with the outcome.

QUICK HITS

WOULDN’T BET ON IT: Tory MP Scott Benton has had the party whip suspended after getting caught on video appearing to offer to lobby ministers in exchange for payment from gambling investors.

House edge: The undercover investigation by the Times, shows Benton — who has been a vocal supporter of the gambliing industry during his time in Parliament — bragging about his “easy access” to ministers and claiming he could “call in favours” from other MPs to get questions asked in Parliament.

Bottom dealing: Benton also said he could “guarantee” the fake firm access to the forthcoming gambling white paper at least two days before it was published, despite it likely containing market-sensitive information.

Good odds: Benton told the undercover reporters he would be willing to offer his services for between £2,000 to £4,000 a month for two days’ work a month.

What he says: In a statement to the Times, Benton said he had contacted the Commons authorities after the meeting because he was “concerned that what was being asked of me was not within parliamentary rules.” He said there was “no further contact” after that point.

On a roll: It’s the second undercover sting in as many weeks showing Tory MPs appearing to cosy up to outside firms. Any MPs who have recently tried to secure themselves a second job are going to desperately hoping they don’t end up on next week’s front pages.

LOBBYING BATTLE: Big tech lobbyists and their opposite numbers are in the trenches over the snappily named Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill set to be published later this month.

Opening salvos: POLITICO tech head Tom Bristow has the inside track on how tech firms are trying to water down the bill ahead of publication, with one industry insider saying there was — and I quote — a “sh*t load” of lobbying going down in SW1.

What’s the beef: The legislation as it stands would turbo-charge regulators by giving them new powers to hit tech giants with major fines if they use their market power to undermine competition rules. Obviously, that isn’t sitting well with Big Tech, who are concerned the proposed appeals process would only let them challenge decisions if the regulator failed to follow the correct process, and not on the merit of the decisions.

But but but: SMEs and consumer groups warn that altering the process could give the biggest firms the opportunity to drag appeals through the courts for years, largely defeating the purpose of the regulations in the fast-moving digital marketplace.

Extra, extra: The new bill could also force platforms to pay news publishers more for their content — something which is already happening in Australia, despite threats from tech giants to essentially block news content from their platforms.

Big scrap: One industry figure told Influence that U.K. news media lobbyists are already preparing for battle with their tech counterparts on this, given the legislation has the potential to do more to break up Big Tech monopolies even than the Online Safety Bill.

And their big fear: Is that aspiring tech bro Rishi Sunak could be easily persuaded to gut the policy if faced with threats of reduced investment in the U.K.’s digital market.

CBI ALLEGATIONS: The investigation into sexual misconduct at the Confederation of British Industry has widened following several further serious allegations made by current and former staff, first reported by ace Guardian hack (and ex-POLITICO alum) Anna Isaac.

What has been said: The most serious new allegation came from a woman who claims she was raped by a senior colleague at a CBI summer boat party in 2019. Other allegations include several claims of sexual misconduct and reports of widespread cocaine use at official CBI events.

Impact: The latest allegations have led to the government suspending its relationship with the business group, including pausing ministerial contact and freezing engagement between the CBI and Whitehall departments.

That followed: Shadow Cabinet minister Lisa Nandy dropping out of her planned appearance at a CBI dinner later this month.

It comes after: Tony Danker, the group’s director general, stepped aside following recent misconduct claims — none of which are related to the latest allegations.

Independent scrutiny The group said they would not comment on individual allegations, but confirmed a probe by law firm Fox Williams would be expanded to investigate the new claims, as well as those previously made against Danker.

TICKED OFF: Twitter’s plan to remove blue ticks from everyone not paying for the privilege has triggered fresh concerns that misinformation and scams could flood the social media platform.

What’s the big deal: Removing “legacy” ticks from journalists, public figures and politicians — or merging them with pay-to-play users — makes it much harder for people to figure out whether, for example, that extraordinary image of Donald Trump being dump tackled by federal agents has come from a genuine news source, or a bad actor with $7.99 and access to AI software. That’s bad for both journalists fighting against a tidal wave of fake news, and for Twitter users who use the platform as a critical source of up-to-date information.

Case in point: Twitter boss Elon Musk de-ticked the New York Times in response to a meme suggesting they would not be paying for either their corporate accounts or staff to keep their verified status — leading to predictable results …

THINK TANK LAND

ALL TOGETHER NOW: Labour Together, the main Keir Starmer-backing Labour think tank, has relaunched with a major new report into how Labour can win a majority at the next election. Josh Simons, who took over the operation three months ago, spoke to Influence about what the results mean for the party and what’s next for the group.

Wobbly Workington man: The study, conducted in conjunction with YouGov, identified six voter segments to be wooed at the next election, including the “Workington Man” subset famously identified by centre-right think tank Onward for the Tories in 2019. But Labour Together reckon that with Corbyn out of the picture, that same group — which largely switched to the Conservatives at the last election, handing Boris Johnson a landslide — were back in play.

Big focus: On “Stevenage Woman’” a new personification identified as a crucial plank in delivering a Starmer majority. Young, hard-working but struggling to get by, Stevenage Woman is an on-and-off voter who leans slightly towards social conservativism and an interventionist state.

Keep doing what you’re doing: Labour Together believes that wooing Stevenage Woman will require Starmer to hold the line on social and cultural issues while delivering an economic plan that addresses financial insecurity.

Take cover, comrades: The analysis, Simons suggests, shows that Labour is “moving closer to where the majority of the country are on social and cultural issues, which is sort of soft conservative”.

Greatest hits: “It’s vital that Labour keeps being tough on crime, as well as the causes of crime, controlling Britain’s borders, as well as providing safe routes for migrants. Labour needs to keep doing what it’s doing and hold that line,” Simons added.

The biggest surprise from the data: Is the Tories two core segments are “basically haemorrhaging” to the Reform Party — Nigel Farage’s rebadged Brexit Party — even in safe Conservative seats. That puts pressure on Tory resources in their heartlands and draws focus away from swing seats.

Simons says: The reason for the sustained Labour poll lead change is two-fold. One is that the Conservative Party is “eating itself alive”, while the other is down to the “unbelievably rapid and ruthless transformation” of the party under Keir Starmer. Although to be clear — he is definitely a fan.

Big call: The think tank suggests every single “Red Wall” seat which fell to Boris Johnson would return to Labour at the next election.

Word in your shell-like: The group, which describes itself as a “campaigning think tank”, was able to present its report to Labour’s top team ahead of publication. And while Simons won’t divulge the exact details of the relationship his think tank has with the party, it’s clear he’s got the ear of Starmer’s leadership team.

Friends with benefits: “We are not a Labour Party affiliate, none of our pay cheques depend on the Labour Party,” he said. “But, of course, we value enormously the deep political relationships we have with this Labour leadership and with the shadow Cabinet, because that’s how you make sure the bold ideas get relevant traction.”

Who fnuds u? The group says their funding comes from a mix of big donors, individuals and foundations — giving them enough cash to expand their operations as a general election looms.

And those next steps: “We’re going to be proposing some of the bold thinking and clarity of arguments that we think Labour need to withstand the scrutiny of a general election campaign,” Simons added. “And we’ll be building some of the bold ideas and policies that Labour needs to make sure that we win that election and get back in power.”

ON THE MOVE

Tory peer and former House of Lords Leader Natalie Evans has joined comms firm Rud Pedersen as a senior adviser. The former Cabinet minister will support the firm’s consultants with general advice on the broad development of U.K. policy.

James Sutherland-Harper is joining ConservativeHome as its new commercial director, taking over from Angus Parsad-Wyatt after his promotion to chief executive.

Tory peer Richard Harrington, who was responsible for launching and running the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, has been asked to lead a review into foreign direct investment.

Dentons Global Advisors has hired James Price as a senior adviser. Price joins the firm following previous special adviser roles in the Treasury, Cabinet Office and Department of Education.

New gig for Lynn Davidson, who is joining APCO Worldwide as a senior director. She was previously the spokesperson for COP26 President Alok Sharma.

Callum Attew has taken up a new post as parliamentary communications manager at air traffic control services firm NATS.

Samir Dwesar has left Cavendish Advocacy to take up a new role as senior public affairs and policy manager at Santander UK.

Grayling has just promoted Vic Wilkinson and James Watson to account director roles in its corporate affairs practice.

And Josh Nicholson has joined the Centre for Social Justice as a researcher on the Social Justice Commission after a stint as a parliamentary assistant to Labour MP Barry Sheerman.

REALLY ON THE MOVE: Tom Hashemi, boss at comms firm Cast From Clay, is cycling 2,150km from the Houses of Parliament to Ukraine to raise funds for landmine clearance efforts.

On yer bike: Hashemi will end the 14-day trip in Lviv where he will hand deliver a message of support, signed by MPs and peers, to the city’s mayor. You can find out more and donate here.

Jobs jobs jobs: BB Partners are looking for a senior consultant in international communications … The National Infrastructure Commission has openings for an events and engagements officer and a briefings and engagements officer …WPI Economics are hunting for a consultant economist … The Care Quality Commission is recruiting for a senior parliamentary and stakeholder engagement officer …The House of Commons is looking for a new senior media and communications officer to work with select committees… and the Labour Climate and Environment Forum is hiring for a new program officer.

Thanks: To editor Jack Blanchard for making sure my typos are never subject to transparency, and to the production team for giving it the glow up.

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