Thread by @allthecitizens

EXCLUSIVE: Half of all donations by registered UK political lobbyists since the register was established in 2015 have gone directly to the Conservative Party, research by @allthecitizens and @BylineTimes can reveal. THREAD:

In March 2015, a register of lobbyists was established by the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists to ensure “transparency about the work of consultant lobbyists and their engagement with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries on behalf of clients”
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

Research by @allthecitizens / @BylineTimes can reveal 49% of the total £830,433 amount donated to political parties went to the Conservatives, in contrast to just 14% to Labour. The Lib Dems made up the rest (largely in ‘in kind’ donations from consultancies).

In total, some 11 companies on the 178 strong register have donated to political parties over the last 6 years. £406,955 has been donated to the Conservatives by 8 different companies:

AVRE Partnership (£51,500), KPMG (£137,845), Hanover Communications Int (£12,000), Invicta Public Affairs (group) ltd (£12,000), PwC (£35,988.60), Stonehaven Campaigns Ltd (£20,067), Good Faith Partnership LLP (£38,715.00) and Russia-linked firm New Century Media (£98,840).

In the years before the register was launched in 2015, our research showed just 34% of donations went to the party, with an almost even spread across the three main political entities in the UK (slightly favouring the Labour Party), dating as far back as 2003, under New Labour.

However, since the lobby register's creation - in part a response to journalistic exposes highlighting the insidious nature of lobby in government - there appears to have been a marked shift towards just Tory-donations.

We are calling on greater transparency in the lobby list, with clear conflict of interest declarations highlighted when companies do donate, and more detail in directors of lobby companies with their political donations listed too.

There’s no assertion that the companies involved have acted illegally or improperly in donating, but nevertheless @allthecitizens and @BylineTimes feel it is important that these potential conflicts are addressed in the name of transparency.

Catch the full write-up from @BylineTimes Below:
bylinetimes.com/2021/04/19/lob…

[side note] - Donations to political parties from the Big Four consulting firms (PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, E&Y) ceased at latest in 2017, and often previously represented non-cash donations. These values remain the same, and are listed on the electoral register as such.

If you were to remove PwC and KPMG, the two most recent donors out of the Big Four (2017), the Conservative Party would represent 63% of all donations from companies on the lobby register since March 2015.