The public demand is clear: cap big donations now

It is rare in British politics for the public to speak with one voice. On big money in our democracy, they do. New polling we commissioned from More in Common shows a settled, emphatic public verdict: wealthy donors are buying influence over our politics, voters want it stopped, and they back a cap on large donations as the way to do it.

This is not a divided electorate waiting to be persuaded. It is a public that has already made up its mind, waiting for Parliament to catch up.

The public verdict is in

More than four in five Britons (83%) believe wealthy individuals use political donations to influence the government in their own personal interests. More than half agree strongly. Just 5% strongly disagree.

This isn't a partisan view. It is held by 84% of 2024 Labour voters, 78% of Conservatives, 88% of Liberal Democrats, 79% of Reform UK voters and 92% of Greens. In a political landscape where voters agree on almost nothing, they agree on this: big money buys influence over our politics.

That should alarm everyone who cares about trust in our democracy. When the overwhelming majority of citizens, across every party and every age group, believe access to government can be bought, the legitimacy of political decision-making itself is called into question. Why follow the rules, pay your taxes, accept the outcome of elections, if you believe the whole system answers to a handful of mega-donors?

And so is the public demand for a cap

The same polling shows the strength and breadth of public support for doing something about it. Asked how they would feel about a party that introduced a limit on large donations, nearly half of Britons (47%) said they would feel more positively about it. Just 7% would feel more negatively.

That support reaches into every corner of the electorate. Among 2024 Conservative voters, 49% would view a capping party more favourably, against just 3% less favourably. Among Labour voters, it's 63% to 9%. Liberal Democrats, 60% to 8%. Greens, 67% to 7%. Among Reform UK voters, supporters of a cap outnumber opponents by almost ten to one, 38% to 4%. There is no political group amongst those polled that did not support caps.

And when voters were asked what the government's electoral legislation should actually prioritise, capping all large donations to political parties was among their top picks, chosen by more than one in three (34%) — level with capping overseas donations and protecting the independence of the Electoral Commission, and well ahead of issues like cryptocurrency donations or votes at 16.

These results are clear - the public have made up their minds. A mandate for reform this broad and this consistent is something few policies ever achieve. MPs cannot say the public hasn't asked for this.

The Bill is the moment

The route to reform is already in front of Parliament. The Representation of the People Bill is making its way through the Commons now, and the government deserves credit for what it has committed to so far: a cap on donations from overseas electors and a moratorium on cryptocurrency donations, following the Rycroft Review into foreign interference.

But these measures, welcome as they are, deal with the edges of the problem. The far bigger issue - unlimited donations from a small number of British mega-donors - remains untouched. A system in which a single individual can hand a political party millions of pounds, with no upper limit, is a system that invites exactly the suspicion this polling lays bare. It only takes one donor with deep enough pockets to bankroll a party's entire campaign, and the public knows what that buys.

Closing the door to foreign money while leaving it wide open to domestic mega-donations is a half-finished job. The risk of undue influence doesn't depend on the donor's passport.

What needs to happen

Transparency International UK has long called for a cap on donations to political parties, set at a level that allows genuine grassroots support while ending the era of the mega-donor. A cap would not stop ordinary people supporting the parties they believe in. It would simply ensure that no individual can buy a louder voice in our democracy than everyone else.

This polling removes the last excuse for inaction. Voters across every party believe the current system is corrupting, and they have told us, clearly and consistently, what they want done about it. When more than four in five Britons say wealthy donors are buying influence, and support for a cap stretches from Green voters to Reform voters, that is not a signal MPs can responsibly ignore.

MPs from all parties should use the Representation of the People Bill to cap all large donations before it becomes law. The public has spoken. Parliament must now act.