New rules needed for digital campaigns, says watchdog

Greater clarity is needed around digital campaign spending by political parties, according to the watchdog that regulates conduct in public life.

He said a report from the body aims to simplify the rules.

Labour said tougher regulations were needed but there was a wider cultural problem of rule-breaking in government.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an independent body set up to advise the prime minister on arrangements for upholding ethical standards of conduct across public life in England.

It has been reviewing the way donations and campaign spending by candidates, political parties and non-party campaigners in election and referendum campaigns are regulated and enforced.

There has been concern in the UK about possible foreign influence over the UK’s institutions and government, with some in the intelligence community calling for tougher laws to combat the problem.

And electoral reform advocates have been calling for greater transparency around online campaigning.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lord Evans, the former head of MI5, said it was “important we think about the ways elections are changing and that we keep our rules up to date”.

He said his report aimed to provide greater clarity about the situation and “to make sure we have better insight into what is going on particularly with digital campaigning”.

“Financial regulation is a good way of trying to get access to this,” he said.

“If we knew what parties are spending their money on, particularly on digital campaigns, who they were targeting, that would be very helpful,” he added.

Other recommendations in the report include ensuring that companies who donate to political parties do so out of profits derived from their activities in the UK and not from overseas.

Lord Evans told the BBC there is a danger that the current situation can “look shadowy”.

And he denied suggestions that the committee was toothless, pointing out it was a cross-party body.

On Monday, the government brought forward a new Elections Bill with measures including securing the ballot, introducing a new digital imprints regime and tightening up rules on electoral intimidation.

It will require political campaigners to explicitly declare who they are when promoting campaign content online and on whose behalf, so that voters are clear who is trying to influence them.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said the legislation will “protect our electoral system for the future, with new measures to make it even more transparent, tackle intimidation and prevent foreign interference.

“The UK already has a comprehensive regulatory framework which governs the spending and funding of candidates, political parties and campaigners.” the spokesperson added.

“This Bill will further strengthen that, ensuring it is clearer to voters who is spending money campaigning in our elections.”

Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said the committee was right to look at how money was spent during elections.

She said her party had been “very concerned about the influence of, for example, overseas money, of Russian money and we want to see much tougher restrictions on the way in which that is allowed to influence our elections here in the UK”.

But she called for a wider look at rules and standards in government.

“We’ve had the use of private emails recently that has resurfaced as an issue but that is a practice that the government has been employing for 11 years now,” she said.

“When the British public looks at their government, what they see too often is one rule for them and another rule for the rest of us.

“That has become a major problem in the middle of a global pandemic and that is what I think the committee should be focusing on.”

John Pullinger, chair of the Electoral Commission – the UK body which oversees elections and regulates political finance – welcomed the report.

“It is essential the regulatory system remains transparent, coherent and proportionate.

“The current regulatory framework works well overall, but the rules should reflect modern practices”, he said.