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United Kingdom·Democracy

UK ethics watchdog calls for all lobbying to be publicly declared in major transparency overhaul

Thursday, 9 July 2026, 06:29 · 1 min read

Britain's government ethics watchdog has recommended that all lobbying of ministers, political aides and senior officials be publicly declared, covering everything from WhatsApp messages to informal party conference meetings. The review, led by Doug Chalmers of the Ethics and Integrity Commission (the UK's independent public standards body), proposes a comprehensive new register recording who is lobbying, which policies they are targeting, and who in government they are meeting — a significant expansion of current rules that capture only an estimated 4–6% of lobbying activity. The overhaul, which would require new legislation, was triggered by the affair involving Peter Mandelson, who held a stake in a lobbying firm while serving as UK ambassador to Washington, and its fate now rests largely with Andy Burnham, widely seen as Prime Minister Keir Starmer's likely successor.

Sources
The GuardianAll lobbying should be publicly declared in transparency laws shake-up, watchdog says ↗︎
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