Probe needed into 'dark money' groups

Unlock Democracy's letter to the Electoral Commission in full

Dear Mr Posner,

I am writing to ask the Electoral Commission to launch an inquiry into the fundraising activities of the non-party campaigners who participated in the 2019 General Election.

As you may be aware, non-party campaigners who pushed anti-Labour attack ads to millions of voters ahead of the 2019 general election spent more than £700,000 without declaring any individual donations. This was revealed in an investigation conducted by openDemocracy. More than a dozen third-party campaigns that had spent heavily in the 2019 election reported that they had received no funding above the £7,500 threshold for declaring individual donations, and therefore did not have to supply details of any donor to the Electoral Commission. Did the Electoral Commission challenge these assertions? It is alleged that some of these groups may be exploiting a loophole in British electoral law, allowing them to operate like US ‘Super PACs’, which can spend huge sums anonymously.

As the Minister who led on parts of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill, I am particularly concerned about this suggestion, as one of the major purposes of that legislation was to stop the development of Super PAC type activities in the UK. It was also the case that when the Bill was discussed, small organisations were not expected to receive many or any donations over £7,500. The counterpoint being large organisations, and I would argue that the spend of some of those non-party campaigners puts them in the large category, were expected to receive donations over £7,500 .

I would also add that as a candidate in 8 General Elections who has had to fundraise for each of those elections, the sums raised (and then spent) by some of these groups in a very short period of time, without receiving a single donation above £7,500, is astounding.Again during debates about that Bill it was clear the intention of the Bill was to ensure that ‘where non-party campaigning takes place on a scale that could have a significant impact on elections, it is transparent and controlled’. It is clear that that intention has not been met.Has the Electoral Commission put forward any recommendations for addressing this?

Additionally, please confirm what powers you have to challenge and investigate non-party campaigners and whether you intend using them.If you do not have the necessary powers, please explain what powers you would need.I have a specific matter which I request the Electoral Commission investigates that relates to Jennifer Powers, Right to Rent, Right to Buy, Right to Own and Alex Crowley, Fair Tax Campaign Ltd.

FOI requests have revealed that applications to register as non-party campaigners were submitted by each of them at very similar times (29th October 2019 08:33am and 28th October 2019 17:10). However, what is of greater interest is the near-identical phrasing of their requests. This could be a complete coincidence but I consider it would be in the public’s interest to seek to establish this. Particularly as joint-campaigning or coordination in other areas, over messaging for instance, needs to be accurately reported.

Please confirm whether these FOI responses provide enough evidence for the Electoral Commission to investigate these concerns. look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely

Tom Brake - Director of Unlock Democracy

For more about this story

You can read the full coverage of this story on Open Democracy and the Daily Mirror websites.