26th May 2010 

13th April 2010

Tory pledges to clean up lobbying are woefully inadequate, transparency campaigners claimed today.

Despite the rhetoric, David Cameron’s promise to clean up the political system is not backed up with meaningful action.Although both the other main parties have signed up to a statutory register of lobbyists, the Conservatives remain committed to self regulation.

Instead their manifesto pledges that ex-Ministers will be banned from lobbying government for two years after leaving office. That is welcome but in reality it will only immediately affect Labour if the Tories win the election. 

29 March 2010

If only MPs were as candid with Parliamentary Select Committees as they are with potential employers.

Richard Caborn MP is the latest ex-minister to be caught out by the Sunday Times lobbying sting. His claims to undercover journalists of what he would be prepared to do for the fake lobbying firm are in stark contrast to his account of his 'consultancy' work for engineering giant Amec, given to Tony Wright's Public Administration Select Committee during its recent inquiry into lobbying.

The Sunday Times reports that Caborn talked about a number of services he could offer the fictitious lobbying firm (at a daily rate of £2,500 “plus expenses”). He said he would be willing to build relations with ministers who were “good friends”. He was also happy to approach senior Conservatives if they came to power.

Caborn was also taped claiming that he may be in line for a peerage, which would boost his chances of extracting valuable information from the corridors of Westminster. Asked how he could help the firm if he were in the Lords, Caborn replied: “Well, access. Access to people ... You are in the environment, you’re moving around.” This included access to ministers.

14 March 2010

“I believe that secret corporate lobbying, like the expenses scandal, goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics.” So said David Cameron just last month.

Yet, as the Observer reveals this weekend, some of his party’s current crop of prospective MPs aren't being fully transparent with voters about their links to the lobbying industry.

The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency, of which SpinWatch is a member, has teamed up with 38 Degrees – the 100,000-strong online campaign group – to press for greater transparency in lobbying by asking Parliamentary candidates to pledge their support for new transparency rules for lobbyists.

Visit the campaign website to read more and email your prospective MP.

Sunday, 28 February 2010

Revealed in today’s Sunday Times are the ex-MPs working as commercial lobbyists who still have privileged access to Parliament.

The newspaper conservatively counts 25 ex-MPs who are currently working for lobbying firms, from a list of 200 former Members that hold House of Commons passes.

Thanks to a secret ruling by the former speaker, Michael Martin, most ex-MPs can now claim a parliamentary pass for life. This allows them access to Common’s facilities and the politicians who work there. That so many are working as lobbyists should come as no surprise: if a business wants to influence politics, who better to hire than an ex-MP who can work the tea rooms of Westminster on your behalf.

Although Commons rules forbid former MPs from using the pass to further their lobbying career, there are no safeguards to stop them from doing so.

With an unprecedented number of MPs standing down or set to lose their seats at the election, the amount of ex-MPs looking for lucrative lobbying work is likely to rise. Already Andrew MacKay MP – a former aide to Cameron – has signed up to work for lobbying giant Burson-Marsteller.

The list of names is the result of a two-year freedom of information battle between SpinWatch and the House of Commons. In the time it took the authorities to release the names, five of the ex-MPs on the list have died. Of the 200 names, over half are former Conservative Members.  

Download the complete list of ex-MPs with a parliamentary pass.

Lobbying: "It is the next big scandal waiting to happen... an issue that exposes the far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money... And we all know how it works. The lunches, the hospitality, the quiet word in your ear, the ex-ministers and ex-advisors for hire, helping big business find the right way to get its way…"

So said David Cameron this week. But just how accurate is his depiction of the lobbying industry at work?

Today, Spinwatch publishes An Inside Job – a snapshot of political schmoozing by the City. The report looks at recent lobbying by the financial services industry and its many champions – from the banks themselves and their trade associations, to the lobbyists-for-hire, the City of London Corporation and the capital's Mayor, Boris Johnson. And it asks why – despite the UK government decrying the “fundamental unfairness of the rescue” of the banks – it shows no appetite for reform of the City to pre-empt another banking crisis.

An Inside Job reveals a well oiled revolving door between the finance industry, the government and its regulators, and opens a door onto the cosy social world they inhabit together (which includes many breakfasts, lunches and dinners).

9 February 2010

Ephraim Hardcastle writes in today's Daily Mail on Cameron's proposed clampdown on political lobbying firms: "Does he mean outfits like Huntsworth," Hardcastle asks, "which describes itself as 'a world class communications group with public relations as its core'? Its chief executive is Lord Chadlington, aka Peter Gummer, 67, president of Cameron's constituency party. He helped bankroll Dave's leadership campaign."

The Huntsworth Group has a number of lobbying firms under its wing including Grayling, Citigate Dewe Rogerson and Quiller Consultants. The first two companies come clean about who they are being paid to lobby for – they declare their clients under the current system of self-regulation; Quiller does not, in fact it seems to pride itself on keeping quiet: "We understand the importance of discretion, and of being able to give independent advice from a position of trust," it says.

Not quite up to the standards set by David Cameron, who just yesterday said: "I believe that secret corporate lobbying, like the expenses scandal, goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics... It is the next big scandal waiting to happen".

Tamasin Cave, 8 February 2010

David Cameron admitted today that “secret corporate lobbying, like the expenses scandal, goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics.”



The Conservative Party must now pledge to support the introduction of a statutory register of lobbyists, as recommended by the influential Public Administration Select Committee (PASC), chaired by Tony Wright MP.

In a speech this morning, Cameron said of lobbying: “It’s an issue that crosses party lines and has tainted our politics for too long...an issue that exposes the far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money. I’m talking about lobbying – and we all know how it works."

5 February 2010

Now we know the extent to which MPs are facilitating access to the House of Commons facilities for commercial lobbyists, thanks to information from the Commons banqueting office being made public.

The rules state that dining rooms must be ‘sponsored’ by an MP on behalf of an outside interest, with the MP in attendance, although David Cameron has already been pulled up on this.

Among those consultant lobbying firms out to impress their clients – almost treating the Commons as a private dinning room - are Edelman, which hosted seven functions in 18 months; Lexington Communications – two lunches, a tea and a dinner in 2005-06; and Political Intelligence, which notched up eleven dinners and receptions in just two years. Three of these were hosted by former Lib Dem MP Richard Allan, who stood down in 2005 before becoming a lobbyist for Political Intelligence’s one-time client, Cisco.