Press release: Elections watchdog risks authoritarian capture if independence not restored

The independence of the Electoral Commission must be fully restored to safeguard the UK’s electoral integrity from a future authoritarian government, a new report released today by Spotlight on Corruption warns. In its report, Democracy in Danger, the charity warns that current ministerial power over the Commission “could easily be abused to undermine our democracy.”

Provisions introduced by the Conservative government in the Elections Act 2022 allow ministers to set the Electoral Commission’s strategy and policy, curtailing the regulator’s ability to operate freely from ministerial intervention. 

Despite opposing its introduction while it was in opposition, and despite the current Lords minister for democracy stating the power is incompatible with an independent Electoral Commission, the Labour government announced in July that it will use the power to set its own statement for the Commission. 

Democracy in Danger’s key findings include that:

• The UK government is currently in breach of eight different international standards on ensuring the independence of electoral bodies by maintaining the new power in place
  
• All of the constitutional oversight bodies that reviewed the ministerial power opposed its introduction – including two parliamentary committees, the UK’s top ethics body – the Committee on Standards in Public Life – and the Electoral Commission’s oversight body, the Speaker’s Committee.

• The UK has plummeted down international rankings for electoral body autonomy since the power was introduced and now ranks in 44th place, among countries such as Ghana, Nepal and Croatia. It has fallen seriously out of line with comparable countries such as Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.

• The power, which was described by former MI5 director-general and chair of the top ethics body, Lord Evans, as “giving a toddler a gun,” could be used by a future government with autocratic tendencies to distort electoral rules in its favour in order to maintain power.

Spotlight on Corruption is urging the government to reconsider its position on keeping this power and deliver on its pledge to protect democracy by:

1. Removing the ministerial power to set the Electoral Commissions strategy and policy

2. Putting the statutory independence of the Electoral Commission clearly into legislation

3. Introducing new rules that create two new lay members on the Speaker’s Committee to represent the ordinary voter, and to prevent partisan capture of that Committee

Susan Hawley, 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.

“Our new report urges the government to seize the opportunity of its upcoming Elections Bill to protect our democracy by fully restoring the independence of the Electoral Commission and introducing even stronger safeguards against its capture.”