'70% of voters think there need to be greater controls to limit lobbying in politics in the UK, compared to just 4% who disagree'
The overwhelming majority of voters support tougher action to limit lobbying in the UK political system, an exclusive poll for LFF has revealed.
The poll findings come after disgraced Tory MP Owen Paterson resigned, despite the efforts of the government to let him off the hook, after he was found to have committed an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules. Paterson was found to have “repeatedly” used his position as an MP to benefit two firms who paid him as a consultant following an investigation by parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone.
According to our poll, carried out by Savanta: ComRes, 70% of voters think there need to be greater controls to limit lobbying in politics in the UK, compared to just 4% who disagree. 83% of those aged 65 and over supported tighter rules to limit lobbying in UK politics as did 53% of 18-24 year olds.
With the Tory sleaze storm continuing, our polling also showed that 76% of Conservative Party voters also support tighter controls on lobbying as do 77% of Labour voters and 84% of Liberal Democrat voters.
There has also been widespread anger and condemnation over cronyism in the government, especially over the way the government has handed Covid contracts. Transparency International said that one in five government Covid contracts awarded between February and November 2020 contained one or more red flags for possible corruption and require urgent further investigation.
It was also revealed that the government had VIP lanes for some companies bidding for contracts due to their political connections. Randox won a Covid testing contract worth £133m just days before government officials confirmed it did not have enough equipment, according to documents. The company has been in the media spotlight after it was revealed Paterson had lobbied on their behalf.
Our polling also found that 78% of those asked think there needs to be greater action to ensure public contracts are awarded fairly in the UK, with just 3% disagreeing. 92% of those aged 65 and over think there needs to be greater action to ensure public contracts are awarded fairly in the UK as well as 59% of 18-24 year olds.
When it came to party affiliation, 84% of Conservative Party voters agree that there needs to be greater action to ensure public contracts are awarded fairly in the UK as do 86% of Labour voters and 94% of Liberal Democrat voters.
Representative poll of 2231 GB adults. Prepared by Savanta: ComRes
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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