Spotlight has long called for UK political parties to take dirty money in political finance seriously. We have advocated for parties to undertake proper ‘know your donor’ (KYD) checks on the sources of donations (in the same way that companies and charities need to carry out ‘know your customer’ checks) since 2023.
So we were delighted when the government announced that parties will need to do this under their new elections strategy announced in July 2025 which will form the basis for a forthcoming Elections Bill.
Over the Autumn, we highlighted some real ongoing gaps in the strategy – pushing for the government to make the Electoral Commission fully independent from government interference, ban crypto donations because of the particularly high risk they pose for dirty money and foreign interference, and tackle the criminal enforcement gap on political finance rules.
As 2025 came to a close, the government was seriously considering a ban on crypto donations, and looking again at the “scope and effectiveness” of criminal enforcement through an independent review into foreign interference in UK politics. We look forward to seeing whether the government has listened to our other recommendations about beefing up the independence of the Electoral Commission, and ensuring only established UK companies can donate, when it releases its draft bill.
