About this episode
The episode discusses the Representation of the People Bill 2026 and its implications for political donations and voting rights in the UK.
The Representation of the People Bill 2026 is in the King’s Speech which means it’s on the Government’s legislative agenda and is going through Parliament. The Bill covers parliamentary ballots cross the UK, and contains sweeping changes, including giving 16 and 17 year-olds the right to vote in a general election and referendums. The Bill also aims to strengthen the rules around political donations. Giving money to a political party is completely legal, if you are on the UK electoral register, are a UK registered company or UK-registered organisation, but is there a limit on the size of your contribution? Can you be an anonymous donor or pay in cryptocurrency? How are the laws about political party funding being tightened up? And what about individual MPs? Are they allowed to receive personal donations, and do they have to declare them? Presenter: Dr Joelle Grogan Producers: Ravi Naik and Ivana Davidovic Editor: Damon Rose Contributors: Dr Sam Power, Lecturer at Bristol University, and an expert in political financing, electoral regulation and corruption. Hannah Perry, Interim Director of Demos Digital, a cross-party pro-democracy think tank Joanne Wheeler, Managing Partner at…
People in this episode
Host: Dr Joelle Grogan
Guests: Dr Sam Power, Hannah Perry, Joanne Wheeler
Topics covered
- political donations
- election law
- youth voting
- political financing
- electoral regulation
- corruption
Keywords
- political donations
- Representation of the People Bill
- voting age
- electoral register
- cryptocurrency donations
- MP donations
- political party funding
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Demos Digital, Alden legal, BBC Radio 4
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