After Lord Mandelson, new research reveals that while many lobbyists steer clear of peers, Lords are less keen to avoid side hustles that rub close to lobbying themselves:
Starmer did not agree to the prospect of banning large donations, but said the government “will do whatever is necessary to protect our democracy from foreign influence and dirty money”:
A timely question as Elon Musk becomes the world’s first trillionaire:
Does Starmer think the government really have done enough to protect our democracy?
A trailblazer for confrontational, investigative journalism. Just imagine losing The Cook Report to ITV because at the BBC you decided to commission Watchdog instead:
Floodgates have been opened to big money from UK politics' wealthiest donors. It's time the rest of us... took back control.
61% of all political donations in the last quarter came from just 14 people
Reform took in £9.3m from a handful of super rich donors
British democracy is being bought. We urgently need action to take the money out of our politics
Well now, this is getting interesting:
www.theguardian.com
Prime minister says ‘£5m question still remains’, as pressure grows on Reform UK leader over Christopher Harborne gift
🗣️"The lesson from this saga should be that open government in the first place serves the public better than belated dumps of data long after the event."
@muteswann.bsky.social in the BBC on revelations Douglas Alexander failed to initially declare a meeting with Global Counsel.
More below ⤵
Remember the last Tory government massively increased election spending limits.
Back then, the thinking was the Conservatives could exploit that. In practice, they struggled to raise the maximum cash - and now Reform is best placed to outspend the others come election time.
Newly-released files confirm Douglas Alexander met with Global Counsel in summer 2024 but it was not publicly declared until earlier this year.
Andy Burnham Backs Political Donations Cap to Stop ‘Undue Influence’ by Big Money Donors
EXCLUSIVE: Prime Ministerial hopeful backs calls to stop billionaire donors from buying our politics, putting him at odds with Keir Starmer's Government
Reform’s financial reliance on the crypto industry is wild
www.ft.com/content/091c...
Some quick thoughts on Q1 2026 donations data from @electoralcommission.org.uk 🧵
HEADLINE STATS
Total: £20.7m (excl. public funds)
Biggest recipient: Reform £9.3m
Biggest donor: Ben Delo £4m to Reform
Donors giving £1m+: £9.2m (44%) from 3 donors
Donors giving £250k+: £12.7m (61%) from 14 donors
EXCLUSIVE: Prime Ministerial hopeful backs calls to stop billionaire donors from buying our politics, putting him at odds with Keir Starmer's Government
bylinetimes.com
Some quick thoughts on Q1 2026 donations data from @electoralcommission.org.uk 🧵
HEADLINE STATS
Total: £20.7m (excl. public funds)
Biggest recipient: Reform £9.3m
Biggest donor: Ben Delo £4m to Reform
Donors giving £1m+: £9.2m (44%) from 3 donors
Donors giving £250k+: £12.7m (61%) from 14 donors
