In the wake of allegations that shadow minister Osborne received large contributions from a wealthy Russian, the government seeks to upgrade and tighten enforcement of the restriction on foreign political donations, currently illegal under British law. The Home Secretary will attempt to add the provisions to “Political Parties and Elections Bill, currently on its way [...]

From the BBC:
Political parties received £10.7m in donations between April and June – up from £8.1m during the previous three months, figures show.
…The commission’s chief executive, Peter Wardle, said: “Having previously called on parties to address the issue of late reporting of individual donations, we are pleased to see this being addressed and expect to [...]

The BBC reports:
Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander has resigned “with deep regret” after breaking rules on declaring donations.
It came as she faced a one-day ban from Holyrood after failing to register donations to her leadership campaign.
It seems she failed to declare about £10,000:
She later updated her register with details of 10 donors, who each gave [...]

Pinto-Duschinsky’s report done for Policy Exchange makes several headlines, including: Public subsidies to MPs ‘rising’, Low-level party funding ‘a myth’ and Parties ’spend less fighting elections than 40 years ago’.

Yesterday, the BBC reported:
Tory leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg are among 14 MPs facing a reprimand for declaring donations too late.
The Electoral Commission notes a £7,285 helicopter flight donated to Mr Cameron in 2005 and six donations worth £14,490 to Mr Clegg, dating back to 2006.
MPs have to register donations over £1,000 [...]

Another Labour MP and cabinet secretary, Alan Johnson, is being examined for undeclared donations. These apparently from his brother-in-law for a contest for Labour’s deputy leadership contest, reports the BBC.  

Gordon Brown’s Work and Pensions Secretary, Peter Hain, is being reviewed by the Electoral Commission as the legality of his taking and failing to register donations from a ‘think tank’ that may not deserve the name – it has never published anything.

The latest scandal for the Labour Party means the chances of reform may be revived, writes the BBC.

The BBC reports:
Labour general secretary Peter Watt has resigned following the revelation that a property developer made donations to the party via three associates.
…Under the law, those making donations on behalf of others must give details of who is providing the money.
Watt said he was unaware of the precise reporting requirements at the time of [...]

The Electoral Commission issued this handbook on the new regulations in Northern Ireland. Based on the UK’s 2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act, the new regulations have a list of persmissible donors. For N.I., however, the enumerated list includes a variety of Irish organizations (p. 8 of handbook):

3.4 PPERA specifies a list of individuals [...]

The Belfast Telegraph reports an interview with the UK’s Electoral Commission’s new regulations regarding political party finance in Northern Ireland. In brief, parties are now required to disclose their sources of income, which can only come from particular sources in the UK and in Ireland. There are no contribution limits and none of the information collected by [...]

The Economist writes that the reforms to campaign finance in the UK are foundering as the parties are unable to reach compromise on Sir Hayden Phillips’ recommendations of more public funding and limits on spending and contributions.  Labor wants the public funding, but the Tories wont go for it unless there are limits on union [...]

The cash-for-peerages affair ends, and without any charges despite earlier indications that some higher-ups would be charged. The BBC’s roundup begins:
It lasted 16 months, cost £1 million, saw senior Downing Street aides arrested and even then prime minister, Tony Blair, interviewed by police.
There was one significant change to come of the whole affair, however: the [...]

The BBC reports:
Talks have begun between Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems to try to reach agreement on how parties are funded.
Sir Hayden Phillips, who published his review of party funding in March and is chairing the meeting, said there was “broad agreement” about most issues.
But recommendations on capping spending on campaigns and individual [...]

The Crown Prosecution Service has been given all the materials in detectives’ investigation into the cash-for-honours probe, and will soon make decide whether to bring prosecutions, the BBC writes. It would be only the 2nd prosecution under the 1925 law.
There has only ever been one prosecution involving the law at the centre of the inquiry [...]

Want to give to the Labour Party - and help them pay back their debt – with every purchase on your credit card? You can by opening a card through the Co-operative Bank. Labour advertises the card on its website and Graham Dines laments about it here.  
I do not know how common schemes like this [...]

Brian Lapping at the Guardian has another, albeit unlikely, solution to the two problems underlying the UK’s cash-for-peerages scandal: the wealthy’s demand for honors and the parties’ demand for money. Publicly auction the honors, he writes.
The principle is simple. Sell the damned baubles for what they will fetch and use the loot to enable our excellent political leaders [...]

The Economist is skeptical of Phillips’ campaign finance reform recommendations for the UK, in part because Labour doesn’t want to budge on capping donations from unions, and the Tories dont want to impinge their ability to target marginal districts with large infusions of campaign expenditures, something “Lord Moneybags Ashcroft, who pumps huge sums into targeted marginals, [...]

Sir Hayden Phillips has released his report and recommendations for campaign finance reform in the UK. He was commissioned to study the present regulatory system and make recommendations in an independent commission begun by PM Blair after the cash-for-honors scandal broke last year.
For the Labour Party, the main sticking point seems to be whether the [...]

While yesterday’s guilty verdict for Scooter Libby marked at least the beginning of the end of the Plame scandal for the Bush White House, the anticipation in the UK is escalating about possible criminal charges in the cash-for-honors probe. “The Daily Telegraph says aides of the prime minister are ‘living in fear’ that police plan [...]