Cleaning Up Westminster

Abstract

The article deals with the 2022 Report of the Commission on the UK’s future and, in particular, with the section devoted to “Cleaning Up Westminster”. It is argued that the drafters of the section advocate for an overall renewal of the ethical standards in politics, both at Westminster and Whiteall, through far-reaching reforms of the codes of conducts for MPs and Ministers and their enforcement, stricter rules on party financing and on the incompatibility regime for MPs, revised procedures for public appointments, changes in the mandate and powers of existing independent authorities (e.g. the Electoral Commission and the Information Commissioner’s Office) and the creation of new ones (e.g. the new Anti-Corruption Commissioner and Ethics and Integrity Commission). Next to these proposals, which would trigger comprehensive reforms to re-connect citizens to representative institutions in continuity with the UK parliamentary traditions, there are others which appear radical and more problematic from a constitutional standpoint, like challenging the very existence of parliamentary privileges and supporting the setting up of people’s juries to ascertain the conduct of politicians.

Keywords: House of Commons; Whiteall; Ethical standards; Parliamentary privileges; Party financing; Codes of conduct; Independent authorities; Corruption