Clause 5
Political Parties and Elections Bill
11:00 am
David Howarth (Shadow Solicitor General, Ministry of Justice; Cambridge, Liberal Democrat)
Again, the principle behind the amendment is well worth supporting. As the hon. Lady said, there may be some defects in the drafting, but I would urge the Minister to take on board her points. The objective of the amendment is to remove from the list of permitted political commissioners those who have given donations to political parties, treating them as they would be treated at present. The principle behind the amendment is a good idea, because one of the main functions of the commission is to regulate donors. Although there are times for making sure that those who are regulated are represented on regulatory bodies, with the particular sensitivities surrounding the area of large donations it would not be a good idea, or add to public confidence in the commission, if the electoral commissioners were to have among their number major donors to political parties.
I have some reservations about the detail of what is proposed in the amendment. The hon. Lady referred to lenders not currently being covered in the amendment. There is also the question about the extent of donation that should, in effect, disqualify someone. Minor donations, although registrable, might not be of an extent or scope that would bring the general principle into play. Nevertheless, the principle is worth considering. A slight difficulty with the amendment is that one of its effects would be to make it more likely that a political commissioner would be an activist or a former employee of a political party, as opposed to a volunteer. In general, volunteers are more likely to be donors than party officials or party professionals. That might be seen to be a move in the wrong direction, because we want to encourage voluntary effort in politics. Nevertheless, it is not a knockdown objection to the amendment. In bringing more political experience to bear in the commission, we are trying precisely to bring in the experience of people who have been more on the inside of politics so that the commission gets the benefit of poachers who are being persuaded to turn gamekeepers. Although that is a disadvantage of the amendment, it is not a knockdown objection to it.
I do not want to join in the previous conversation about trade union donations, but I urge hon. Members who are interested in that topic to consider new clause 11. I hope that the Committee will have enough time to discuss that important proposal in detail.