I hope my Private Members’ Bill is a critical step towards lobbying reform
4 min read
We were promised a statutory register of lobbyists.
“We were promised a statutory register of lobbyists. Instead, we have a skeleton register of only consultant lobbyists, exempting 80 per cent of the industry. The word ‘transparency’ in the title is a misnomer. It misses most lobbyists.”
Those were my words in 2013, as the shadow cabinet office minister, in the Second Reading of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill (now the 2014 Lobbying Act) because, by failing to include in-house lobbyists on the register, the legislation was doomed to fail. The law would fail to provide a sufficient level of transparency for a healthy democracy, and also fail to prevent lobbying scandals, thus fuelling public suspicions about the cosy relationship between business and government.
In the 13 years that followed, I have regrettably been proved right. Lobbying scandals continue to make the front pages while public trust in our political institutions further declines.
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) – the professional body for lobbyists – said something similar in 2013, that “the lack of engagement with the industry is reflected in a poorly drafted and narrow definition which does not accurately reflect the work undertaken by lobbyists”. It has therefore campaigned to strengthen Westminster’s lobbying laws and for greater transparency, its own polling finding that over two-thirds of lobbyists would welcome greater scrutiny of their work. When an industry body and its members are calling for greater regulation, you know things need to change.
Working closely with the CIPR over the last few months, I’ve seen how scandals like the Greensill affair damage the public’s view of politicians but importantly also undermines organisations which need to engage with government, as well as individuals who work for them. We all benefit from our politics being informed by real-world experience but done in a way that is transparent and accountable. As a parliamentarian and a former lobbyist, I understand that better than most. My own scrutiny of legislation has been greatly enhanced by hearing directly from those it impacts. Such dialogue, however, should be in the open and not under the radar.
This is why I was delighted to introduce my Private Members’ Bill in the Lords to expand the register of lobbyists to include in-house lobbyists. It is extraordinary that the present legislation only captures four per cent of lobbying of government, according to Transparency International, since only consultant lobbyists have to register, ignoring those employed in-house whose work is completely opaque. Adding this more significant (in size and scope) activity will give the public, journalists, academics and other interested parties, a truer picture of who is seeking to inform and influence government.
It’s embarrassing – and wrong – that anyone can find out more information about who is lobbying in Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Canada, the EU, the USA, Australia and France than about who is lobbying in Westminster, the so-called Mother of Parliaments. We should demand better. Those democracies have more records on their lobbying registers than ours. The UK register has 291 records, the Scottish one 1,754.
In opposition, Labour pressed amendments to the-then bill to ensure in-house lobbyists were included on the register, and before the election Labour promised a different kind of politics, with the-then deputy leader, Angela Rayner, promising movement on lobbying. However, we’ve yet to see tangible action on this. Successive high-profile scandals led the Prime Minister to ask the Ethics and Integrity Commission to review lobbying, disclosure and access to government. We should hear its recommendations next month.
What is clear to Parliament, the public and lobbying professionals is that the status quo is unsustainable, and can’t be solved by tinkering or better enforcement. It needs legislation that is fit for purpose to help ensure we have no more scandals to undermine trust in politics. My bill, which will have its Second Reading on 3 July, is the first, but important step, in this arena.
