Dear John,
Back in September, I wrote to introduce myself as Open Britain’s new Head of Campaigns & Strategy. Five months later, it’s time for an update on how things are going.
As we pointed out back in the autumn, the Prime Minister had identified a “political black hole” in our society that is undermining trust in politics. Yet, his “mission-led government” had no clear plan to address this black hole in our democracy or to begin restoring public trust.
That’s why we said it would instead be our mission-driven campaigning that would set out such a plan and drive the democratic agenda forward in this new Parliament. Working with key partner organisations, that‘s exactly what we’ve delivered.
In five months, we’ve set up by far the biggest All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on political reform that has ever existed, proposed a clear and urgently needed way forward for the government, and piled on the pressure by landing some historic wins in Parliament:
☑️ In November, the APPG for Fair Elections publicly launched and set out its three flagship recommendations in a landmark report: a National Commission for Electoral Reform, closure of political donation loopholes, and forcing transparency on social media platforms to combat disinformation. With the backing of over 100 MPs, the launch made national headlines and pushed MPs’ demands for Proportional Representation (PR) into the political limelight.
☑️ In December, with momentum behind us, the House of Commons voted in favour of PR for the first time ever. In a symbolic victory, MPs backed a ‘10 Minute Rule’ motion by Sarah Olney, a Liberal Democrat MP, with the cross-party support of 137 MPs. Huge credit goes to Sarah, other parliamentary colleagues, and our partner organisations - who all helped rally MPs - and we at OB are proud to have played a decisive role in delivering this major win.
☑️ In January, we supported, briefed and organised MPs for a full Commons debate on PR - and the need for a National Commission for Electoral Reform. Led by Labour MP and APPG Chair, Alex Sobel, 20 MPs from multiple parties spoke passionately in favour of change, with just a single backbench MP giving a half-hearted speech against. Every single MP in Britain was contacted by their constituents ahead of the debate. As well as landing national press coverage, the debate was covered by over 100 outlets across the UK, pressuring the government to take action.
☑️ In February, MPs passed another symbolic bill unopposed, this time putting a cap on political donations and banning foreign donations via UK companies. The proposal, put forward by APPG member and Liberal Democrat MP, Manuela Perteghella, responds to Elon Musk’s threat to pump foreign money into Britain’s far right - and the position has been adopted as an official policy of the APPG for Fair Elections.
☑️ And in March, MPs will have a full debate of political donation rules in the House of Commons. Once again we’ll work through the APPG and with our allies, including the APPG on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax, to brief MPs, amplify the debate, and urge the government to take vital steps to defend and strengthen British democracy.
This is the sort of campaigning that creates change, rather than just advocates for it. With our direct support to Fair Vote UK, the secretariat to the APPG, it is close to becoming the largest all-party group of all. We’re going to keep growing the APPG and keep building pressure inside Parliament.
The other, vital front of this campaign is pairing up this parliamentary work with efforts to organise large scale public demand for fair elections. That is requiring continued determination, deepened partnerships, and creative thinking - and we’re excited to share the next steps of this project with you soon.
I’ll be in touch again before too long with another update. In the meantime, thank you for your support.
All the best,
Joe Sousek
Head of Campaigns and Strategy, Open Britain
