Company interactions with the political process, including meeting public officials, contributing to public debate and informing policy, are legitimate and important activities with the aim of policies and public decisions meeting the interests of different stakeholders. Companies may, for example, be seeking to improve the business and economic environment, propose new opportunities, and contribute information and expertise to policy-making processes.
Corporate political engagement can take a range of forms:
Political donations/contributions: Corporate political donations take the form of financial and in-kind support, including direct financial donations to a political party or electoral campaign funding, secondments to political parties, and sponsorship or support for fundraising events, such as a fundraising dinner. Political donations can be used to buy improper political access and influence and our position is that these should not be made. In the UK context, we call for a cap on donations.
Lobbying: Companies seek to influence policies and decisions through a range of activities. For example, engaging with public officials directly (through board members, management, in-house lobbyists and consultant lobbyists), through third-party trade associations and business chambers, and responding to policy consultations. Corporate lobbying can also occur through indirect routes such as funding the research organisation/think tank which is assisting with drafting legislation. When carried out responsibly, corporate lobbying can provide policymakers with important information, expertise and resources. However, certain practices may amount to abuses of the lobbying process giving rise to corruption and other risks (see below).
Public-private sector hiring practices - the ‘revolving door: The ‘revolving door’ refers to the movement of high-level employees between the public and private sectors. These movements can be in either direction and bring risks of improper access or influence, whether intentional or inadvertent. Such hiring practices are a valuable way for actors in both sectors to build and access skills and knowledge, and facilitate understanding and cooperation. However, if not managed properly with transparency, risks include (real or perceived) undue influence, trading in influence, public perception of improper influence on policymakers and scandal (e.g., the divulgence of confidential information).
Business interaction with political processes and decision-making is legitimate and beneficial. However, where conducted without transparency and adequate safeguards, this creates risk for companies themselves, and potential harm for society from weak policies and public decisions that can undermine social and environmental protections and trust in democratic institutions.
Bribery and corruption
Corporate political engagement is a significant risk area for bribery and corruption. Where gifts and excessive hospitality are involved, these may amount to bribery. Other corruption risks include (real or perceived) conflicts of interest and undue influence, which is a subtle form of corruption which involves one person taking advantage of a position of power over another. Undue influence can involve making use of legal mechanisms to influence the decision-making process. For example, companies may legally contribute to electoral campaigns, provide research, and host receptions but expect favourable decisions from officials in exchange. This creates a risk that certain actors can use their resources and leverage to have an outsized impact on political decisions and processes, at the expense of those with less influence.
Policy capture
Policy captures arises where public policy decisions are consistently or repeatedly directing away from the public interest towards the interests of a specific group or person. The capture of public decisions can be achieved through a wide variety of illegal instruments, such as bribery, but also through legal channels, such as lobbying and financial support to political parties and election campaigns. Policy capture is the opposite of inclusive and fair policymaking and undermines core democratic values.
Social harm
Where private and powerful interests have an undue and outsized influence on public policy, society and the environment can suffer through weak or fragmented social and environmental policy outcomes. Undue corporate political influence may also undermine people’s trust in democracy, the economy and democratic institutions.
Legal risk
Where a business’ direct or indirect (i.e., through an intermediary) political activities involve the use of gifts and excessive hospitality, these may found to amount to bribery (i.e., the offering, promising, giving, accepting or soliciting of an advantage as an inducement for an action which is illegal, unethical or a breach of trust) and illegal conduct under the UK Bribery Act 2010.
Conduct by a company's intermediary lobbyist could amount to indirect bribery or 'trading in influence', which is when someone close to a key decision maker improperly exchanges the influence they have over that person for some advantage. An example would be a senior civil servant accepting gifts and hospitality from a lobbyist to influence a government minister. The EU Directive on combatting corruption, (Directive (EU) 2026/1021) notably creates a standalone criminal offence for those involved in active and passive trading in influence.
Reputational risk
The scale, pervasiveness and opacity of lobbying, compounded by scandals and abuses by companies and politicians, have created deep public suspicion that companies have privileged access and behave improperly. Specific reputational risks can arise from a company's association with a political party through its donations/support, the company's relationship with a consultant lobbyist (or their clients), and resulting from their trade association’s advocacy on a topic which does not relate to or align with the company's own position.
Lobbying
The UK is one of the most opaque countries in the advanced industrialised world when it comes to the regulation of lobbying. The primary piece of legislation which regulates lobbying is the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 (the ‘Lobbying Act’), which requires anyone “in the business of consultant lobbying” to be registered on the register of consultant lobbyists. A consultant lobbyist is defined in the Act as someone who is paid to make communications to a UK Government minister or permanent secretary about government policy, legislation, the award of contracts, grants, licenses or similar about benefits, or the exercise of any other government function such as the exercise of the prerogative on behalf of another person. The register of consultant lobbyists is maintained by the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.
A bill was introduced to Parliament on 1 June 2026 to amend the Lobbying Act to include in-house lobbyists, but additional reforms are needed strengthen the regulatory framework.
Political donations
Unlike in some countries, political donations are not prohibited in the UK. The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) controls donations received by political parties. Our analysis provides a full explanation of political financing rules in the UK and how we are advocating to strengthen them, in particular the need for a cap on donations.
Responsible corporate political engagement is carried out within a framework of good corporate governance and commitments by the board to integrity, accountability and transparency. Transparency International UK's principles for responsible political engagement provide guidance on governance measures and controls across six key areas:
The board or a designated board committee should be accountable for a company’s political engagement, providing direction and oversight and assigning overall responsibility to a senior manager.
Companies should consult with stakeholders on their policies, procedures and any activities related to political engagement and report to stakeholders on the topics raised with government and any steps taken.
The general principle is that political contributions should not be made. If companies allow them by exception, they should clearly state the criteria for making them, which should include providing general support for a genuine democratic process, with full transparency and full explanation.
Companies should report contributions in every country where they operate whether or not it is a legal requirement.
Companies should put robust controls in place to ensure that contributions are not made in violation of a company’s policy.
Companies should report expenditures on lobbying activities, the main topics on which they lobby and the ways in which lobbying is carried out.
Companies should implement and publish specific policies and procedures for responsible lobbying and should require third party lobbyists to comply with them.
Companies should disclose which lobbyist registers they are registered with, including in-house and consultant lobbyists.
Companies should publish their policies and procedures for managing relationships with trade associations. These should be group-wide and memberships should be overseen at central level.
Both companies and trade associations should be transparent about membership fees, expenditure on lobbying activities, the main topics for lobbying and the ways in which lobbying is carried out.
Companies should devise specific policies and procedures for the revolving door through cross-organisational collaboration between functions such as corporate affairs, public affairs, government relations and human resources.
In devising their policies, companies should go beyond compliance with laws governing the post-public employment of public officials to ensure responsible practices and mitigate associated risks.
Policies for the revolving door should cover both the hiring of former politicians and public officials by the company and the movement of former employees to public sector positions.
Companies should publish details of secondments to and from the public sector, including information on the locations of secondments, the numbers of secondees, and the purpose of secondments.
Companies should publish their internal information on their principles, policies, procedures and activities in relation to political engagement.
Companies should publish a dedicated web page or report on their political engagement, granting stakeholders a total view of the company’s material issues and activities without having to search multiple reports or consult external sources.
In 2018, Transparency International UK benchmarked 104 companies in diverse sectors using a set of 20 questions covering transparency, governance and integrity safeguards across five core areas of corporate political engagement to create a Corporate Political Engagement Index. In reviewing the company’s materials, we assessed in particular:
Each company received a score (between 0-100) and a rating (from A-F).
The results are explained in the video below as well as in the our report. The underlying data of the index results can be accessed by industry and by risk area.
Through our range of publications, assessment tools and engagement with companies, we have a strong track record of helping companies improve their approach to responsible political engagement. Please explore our resources below or contact [email protected] for further information.
