By René Lavanchy
THE Government indicated this week that it is determined to press on with plans to reform funding of political parties before the next general election, despite a lack of cross-party consensus and possible opposition from the Electoral Commission.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw unveiled a white paper in June promising to end the “spending arms race” between Labour and the Conservatives, by capping the amount spent on election campaigning over the entire period of a parliament and capping individual donations at £50,000.
The moves would drastically reduce Tory donor Lord Ashcroft’s ability to channel money into target seats.
The news comes as it emerged that the Labour Party managed to reduce its debt by over £6 million last year.
The Conservatives oppose the white paper on the grounds that it does not do enough to regulate trade union funding, while an Electoral Commission document leaked to The Guardian this month suggested that it had reservations on whether the law could be introduced in time for an election in 2010. The Commission expects to consult widely on the legislation once it receives royal assent before issuing guidance, which would risk delaying the rules till after a summer 2010 election.
But a well-placed Government source told Tribune this week that ministers would not wait for the Commission to report, and that the rules would be enforceable as soon as they became law.
They insisted that the new rules were not radical enough to merit concern: “Candidate spending rules are not being invented. They’ve existed for 100 years.” Commenting on the role of the Commission guidelines, the source added: “It will be helpful. It will supplement the legislation.”
An Electoral Commission spokesperson meanwhile said that the time when the rules took effect was a matter for Parliament, adding: “We want to consider carefully any changes to the rules on candidate spending”.
The white paper promises to reintroduce the “trigger” rule introduced by the Conservatives’ 1983 legislation on elections, which limits spending from the point of a party announcing a candidate in a given seat. The Commission is said to have expressed concern about legal uncertainty in enforcing the rule.
At the time of unveiling, Tory Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude accused the Government of opportunism at a time when Labour was suffering from large debts. But accounts released by the Electoral Commission at the end of last month reveal that it reduced debts from £24.9 million to £16.9 million.
The party made an operating surplus of £7.5 million last year, compared to an £814,000 deficit in 2006. Treasurer Jack Dromey said it demonstrated “a new discipline of approach”.
