On the latest lobbying scandal that UK Politics can ill-afford
Some of you may have picked up on the reports about the Labour Infrastructure Forum. That article dated 05 Aug 2025 has what read as damage limitation quotations that seem ‘inconsistent’ with events and branding.
“The Labour party said it had no connection to [Labour Infrastructure Forum] and does not endorse its activities.”
Above – Guardian 05 Aug 2025
Are they sure?
Only the Chief Secretary to the Treasury was their guest speaker at their launch back in September 2024.
If you look at the trio of names on the LIF Executive, two make prominent their previous work with senior Labour figures. Scroll further down and you’ll find their ‘Advisory Council’ which contain three serving Labour MPs, a peer who was a former Labour Party General Secretary (think of the contacts) and the former Communities and Local Government Secretary Ruth Kelly, boss of my former department in the mid-2000s.
Compare the branding too.
Above – snapshots of the word ‘Labour’ on the LIF website here, vs that from the party’s website.
If you asked a random member of the public on whether the Labour Infrastructure Forum had any connection to the Labour Party, showing them the two sets of branding, chances are they would say ‘Yes’. If you then showed them the text on the website of the former with the executive and advisory council members, that would only reinforce the case.
The root of this is how political parties are funded
See the briefing from the Institute for Government here, and also the briefing from Transparency International from May 2025 here. Furthermore, the summary of the 1998 report by the Committee on Standards in Public Life on the funding of political parties remains relevant too.
“It is a small step from the thought that money buys access (encouraged by some
party fundraisers) to the widespread public perception that money can buy influence. This
accusation is denied by politicians on all sides in respect of their own parties (though they
are not averse to suggesting that that is the case with their political opponents). While we
have no evidence that such influence has been bought, we believe that the widespread
assumption among the public that it can be bought is extremely damaging. This is of
particular concern because, as we make clear in this report, we believe that political parties
are of fundamental importance to the democratic process.”
Above – CSPL (1998) S4. p1 / p7pdf
‘Cash for access’
When it comes to raising funds from sources beyond members and supporters, ultimately the only thing parties can offer is access to senior politicians and decision-makers. In particular, current and/or potential future ministers. The murky world where party politics meets big business and wealthy interests results in headlines like this.
The set up the Conservatives had under David Cameron was to establish different tiers of donor clubs. The more you donated, the greater the access you would get. The top set – the Leaders Group of donors, required members to donate at least £50,000 per year. Which raised a tidy sum. It was only due to political and media pressure that more information on who attended what was published. The problem is that for party political events, there are no civil servants there to stop ministers from promising things they should not. Which is how this former Cabinet Minister got into very hot water before becoming a leadership contender in the contest to succeed former PM Rishi Sunak as Tory Party leader.
I’ll leave the final word with the Committee for Standards in Public Life
…and the blogpost written by Lord Evans here
“To date, neither the Conservative or Labour parties, nor successive governments, have accepted the argument for this kind of change. Public scepticism about party funding – and media stories about favours and access given to donors – continues to damage public confidence in politics.”
Above – Lord Evans / CSPL Blogpost 13 Oct 2021
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