The charity has warned that ministerial powers over the elections watchdog could be abused by a future authoritarian government
Anti-corruption charity Spotlight on Corruption has urged Labour to fully restore the Electoral Commission’s independence and protect UK democracy from a future authoritarian government.
In a new report, Democracy in Danger, the charity says current ministerial powers over the Commission “could easily be abused to undermine our democracy”.
In the Elections Act 2022, Boris Johnson’s Conservative government introduced new powers to allow ministers to set the priorities of the Electoral Commission.
The report revealed that the UK government is currently in breach of eight different international standards on ensuring the independence of electoral bodies by keeping the ministerial powers in place.
Last week, Aaron Banks, who funded Leave.EU and is an ally of Nigel Farage, told the Financial Times that a Reform government should scrap “virtually” all regulators.
This includes the Electoral Commission, Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, as well as media and internet watchdog Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority.
The Electoral Commission investigated Banks’ Leave.EU group after the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Leave.EU was fined £70,000 for going over the £700,000 statutory spending limit and filing inaccurate returns. The fine was reduced to £66,000 on appeal.
Labour opposed increasing ministers’ powers over the electoral body while in opposition.
Despite this, the Labour government announced in July that it will use the power to set its own priorities for the Commission.
The government is set to introduce a new Elections Bill to parliament, which will give 16-year-olds the right to vote and tighten rules on foreign political donations.
However, Labour has so far refused to use the bill to remove ministers’ powers over the Electoral Commission.
Susan Hawley, the executive director of Spotlight on Corruption, said: “The democratic backsliding we’re seeing in countries such as Hungary and the US should offer up a stark warning about the slippery slope of stripping election regulators of their independence for government.
“It has been alarming to see this government commit to another strategy and policy statement in its new elections strategy. These powers could easily be abused to undermine democracy by a future authoritarian government.”
The government maintains that the Commission is operationally independent.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson told the Guardian: “We reject these findings and are clear the Electoral Commission will remain operationally independent. We will continue to support it to act without fear or favour – including on stamping out foreign interference and upholding donation rules.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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