Preliminary Sections
| Author | Michael Smyth/Patricia Barratt/Fraser Campbell |
| Pages | 1-17 |
POLITICAL DONATIONS
THE LAW OF
POLITICAL DONATIONS
Michael Smyth CBE,Patricia Barratt and
Fraser Campbell
Wildy, Simmonds & Hill Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Michael Smyth, Patricia Barratt and Fraser Campbell Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v1.0
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0
The Law of Political Donations
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0854900-763
Typeset in Times New Roman by Cornubia Press Ltd
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
The rights of Michael Smyth, Patricia Barratt and Fraser Campbell to be identified as the Authors of this Work have been asserted by them in accordance with Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, sections 77 and 78.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the consent of the copyright owners, application for which should be addressed to the publisher. Such a written permission must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature.
First published in 2012 by
Wildy, Simmonds & Hill Publishing
58 Carey Street
London WC2A 2JF
England
Foreword
In this country we now take it for granted that buying a seat in Parliament, or on a local council, is unacceptable and illegal. This attitude is relatively recent.
‘I grew so rich that I was sent
By a pocket borough into Parliament’
sang Sir Joseph Porter in H.M.S Pinafore. We all know that in 1832 Parliament intervened by the Reform Act to bring rotten boroughs to an end, but who is familiar with the network of law that safeguards our country today from the influence of those who would like to purchase political advantage, or even knows where to look to find guidance in this field?
Strangely, proceedings concerning the relationship between money and politics have not often troubled the higher courts. Perhaps this is a tribute to the quality of our democracy. Perhaps it is because our systems of regulation, both in and out of Parliament, are really effective. Perhaps there are other, less satisfactory, reasons. The fact remains that our case reports contain surprisingly few judgments about the mechanics of political organisations, despite the complexity and multiplicity of many of the rules, limitations and prohibitions in this area.
Had I been faced with a problem in this area I would have found myself ill-equipped to answer it. I would have lacked familiarity with the relevant law, and when I sought to research it in our library I would have found that, despite the importance of the topic, there was no work of reference that dealt adequately with it. That is no longer the case. This book sets out all the relevant law in a straightforward and thematically coherent way. The authors’ achievement in bringing this material into a single volume is timely and important. They have the advantage of having gained an understanding of the key issues by their experience in private practice. They have thus been able to place the law, most of it derived from statute, in its proper context.
vi The Law of Political Donations
It is common-place to describe any new textbook as filling a gap, but in this case the claim is sustainable. I very much welcome the appearance of The Law of Political Donations.
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers
Preface
This book arose out of discussions amongst colleagues in the public policy practice at Clifford Chance. Each had reported receiving increasing numbers of legal enquiries about questions bearing directly or indirectly on the law of political donations.
Typically, there were requests for assistance from general counsel of listed companies, concerned to ensure that shareholder approval of donations was obtained in the correct way. Instructions came also from wealthy individuals, anxious to support the platforms of particular political parties or the election of particular representatives. Pro bono clients, too, sought advice on when political engagement might cross...
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