House of Commons · Westminster Hall
08 July 2021 · 4 other contributors · 11,375 words
Opened by Damian Collins Con Folkestone and Hythe
Responding minister: Chloe Smith
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
Damian Collins raised concerns about election campaign finances: regulation in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key points
Key requests to Government
Mr Collins asks the government to ensure greater transparency in campaign finance through electronic imprints on digital materials, standardised ad libraries, and measures against foreign electoral interference. He calls for technology companies to proactively prevent illegal campaigning rather than just reacting to it.
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.
Opened the debate
Mr Collins is concerned about the challenges in regulating election campaign finances due to technological changes. He highlights issues such as transparency of funding and campaigning, particularly online, where tracking money from foreign sources or shell companies can be difficult. He also mentions problems with dark money, fraudulent ads, and deepfake technology which could be used for political manipulation.
Ms Qaisar-Javed expressed concerns about the challenges posed by social media in modern politics, highlighting how political parties have exploited voter data to undercut electoral finance laws. She cited examples of illegal practices such as Vote Leave's use of football sweepstakes data and the Conservatives' collection of ethnicity and nationality data for targeting voters. She also criticised the Tories' attacks on democracy, including scrapping the Electoral Commission and the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Social media has opened up our democracy, enthused many people and engaged new voters, but the key electoral legislation that we work under is old and needs to be updated.
Ms Brock commended the debate on transparent electoral campaigning and finances, highlighting issues such as social media campaigns, non-party campaigning groups, and the need to future-proof responses against technological advances. She mentioned examples of illegality in political campaigning and called for stronger democratic systems. Ms Brock also referred to recommendations from an all-party parliamentary group's report on electoral campaign transparency.
Ms Anderson expressed concern over the complexity and fragmentation of electoral laws, highlighting their failure to adapt to the modern age. She criticised the Conservative Government for allowing wealthy foreign donors to fund campaigns under archaic laws that permit such activities. Ms Anderson also addressed concerns about the Elections Bill announced by the Government, which she believes weakens donation laws and opens up new loopholes in election finance regulation.
Welcomed the report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life on election finance regulation, highlighting five measures introduced by the Elections Bill but noting they are not robust enough. Emphasised the need for a resilient system against hostile threats and stressed the importance of modernising the Electoral Commission to tackle dark money and dirty data. We have an opportunity to lead the world in regulating election campaign finances due to our strong democratic heritage, but the existing framework needs updating for the digital age.
Government Response
Chloe SmithThe Government are committed to ensuring that our elections are secure, fair, modern and transparent. The existing regulatory framework for election campaign finances is comprehensive, but it needs updating, particularly with regard to digital imprints and foreign funding.