Transparency campaigners welcome new lobbying Bill, but urge peers to go even further

• Statement from Unlock Democracy, CIPR, Spotlight on Corruption and Transparency International UK

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‘Back Baroness Hayter’s bid to strengthen the UK's lobbying laws’, transparency campaigners have urged peers, while pressing lawmakers to go further.

The Labour peer’s Lobbying Transparency (In-house Lobbyists) Bill will be debated in the House of Lords tomorrow (Friday 3rd July). It would extend lobbying disclosure rules to cover in-house public affairs teams.

Current rules only require consultant lobbyists acting on behalf of clients to register. This captures at most 4% of those engaged in lobbying. (1) Companies, trade associations and other organisations that carry out their own lobbying – even those with hundreds of public affairs professionals on staff – can do so without needing to register. (2)

Although government transparency releases record in-house lobbyists’ meetings with ministers, they are difficult to access, details of the discussions are scant – often just a few words – and the publication delay means the public may only learn of these meetings six months after they took place. (3)

Transparency campaigners have welcomed Baroness Hayter’s Bill as an important step forward. But they encouraged lawmakers not to stop there, highlighting two areas for additional action.

First, they note, the Bill would improve the reach of the lobbying register without improving what it tells the public. More lobbying activity would fall within its scope, but the public would still see only a quarterly list of who did the lobbying, rather than a meaningful record of who they lobbied, on whose behalf and about what.

Experts also caution that, even if Baroness Hayter’s Bill were passed, the register’s coverage would still be incomplete. Lobbyists operating below the VAT registration threshold would still not have to register, while organisations whose lobbying is deemed "incidental" to their main business could remain outside the regime.

Tom Brake, Chief Executive of Unlock Democracy, said:

“Bringing in-house lobbyists within the rules would close a significant gap in the lobbying regime, and we're pleased to support Baroness Hayter's efforts. But Parliament must not stop there. The public should have ready access to timely and easily accessible information on who is seeking to influence political decisions, by what means and about what. Until that is the case, public suspicion about lobbying will persist.”

Alastair McCapra, CEO of the CIPR, commented:

“The CIPR has been working closely with Baroness Hayter to support her with this private members' bill. Its value is that it addresses the significant flaw of the Lobbying Act by bringing in-house lobbyists into its scope while demonstrating support within Parliament for improving transparency. It is not a panacea but it marks a meaningful step towards the lobbying transparency that the public demands. We urge members of the House of Lords to support it as a concrete step towards the accountability that both the public and the profession are demanding.”

Kamila Kingstone, Senior Policy and Campaign Lead, Defending Democracy Programme at Spotlight on Corruption, said:

“Bringing in-house lobbyists into the Lobbying Register is absolutely vital for shining a light on lobbying in the UK and enabling the public to know who is influencing our politicians. The government needs to adopt this measure as part of a wider package of reforms to establish a single transparency register by which the public can see who is lobbying whom, why, how, when, and on whose behalf. Only then will the public be able to truly hold their representatives to account and be able to judge for themselves in whose interests they are making policy.”

Duncan Hames, Senior Director of Policy and UK Programmes at Transparency International UK, added:

“Just four per cent of those lobbying government are currently identified by the lobbying register. Baroness Hayter's Bill is a welcome step towards closing that gap by bringing in-house lobbyists into scope.

“But a string of lobbying scandals in recent years has badly dented public trust in politics. If the government is serious about rebuilding that trust, it needs to go further – making sure the public can easily see how lobbyists are seeking to influence decisions, on whose behalf and to what end. Without that, far too much lobbying will stay in the shadows.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

(1) Source: Transparency International UK, Understanding Access and Potential Influence in Westminster, p4.

(2) Unlock Democracy is a listed lobbyist on the Chartered Institute of Public Relation’s voluntary lobbying register.

(3) Declarations of ministerial travel and meetings are released every quarter, covering the preceding quarter. For example, HM Treasury published on 25th June 2026 details of its ministers’ meetings and travel from January to March 2026. Meetings held at the beginning of January are only revealed nearly six months later. Even then, entries for meetings with consultant lobbyists do not always list the end client, while the statutory lobbying register, though it does provide quarterly client lists, does not associate those clients with particular meetings. As a result, it is routinely impossible to identify who a consultant lobbyist was representing – and thus, whose interests were being advocated – in a meeting with a minister.

Unlock Democracy is a not-for-profit organisation which campaigns for a vibrant, inclusive democracy that puts power in the hands of the people.

Spotlight on Corruption is a charity that shines a light on the UK’s role in corruption at home and abroad by scrutinising the UK's anti-corruption laws and international anti-corruption commitments, while monitoring their implementation and enforcement.

Transparency International UK (TI-UK) is the UK chapter of Transparency International. We raise awareness about corruption; advocate legal and regulatory reform at national and international levels; design practical tools for institutions, individuals and companies wishing to combat corruption; and act as a leading centre of anticorruption expertise in the UK.