Jo wants voter power to govern party funding

4.50.24pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 3rd May 2006

Voters should have control over political party funding, according to Jo

Jo Swinson MP has called for more power to be given to the electorate to control political party funding.

Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate yesterday, Jo highlighted the need for parties to move away from mass-marketing, towards a more personal approach to attracting support.

Commenting after the debate, Jo said:

"The Power Inquiry, published in February, contained a number of forward-thinking recommendations for improving the health of our democracy. One of these recommendations was that, at the ballot box, voters should be able to allocate £3 to their party of choice in addition to voting for a candidate, with the two votes not necessarily having to be given the same party.

"This would allow voters to have control over public funding of political parties, rather than business or private donors providing parties' main financial source. Because the funding allocated would be restricted to being spent at local party level, party activities would be re-focused away from national advertising campaigns, towards face-to-face campaigning on local issues.

"This is just one measure to address the problems over party funding and spending that we face, however, not the whole story. We should also consider the importance of advertising restrictions, which already govern radio and television advertising, keeping up with new and increasingly used forms of media such as billboards."

The Power Inquiry Conference takes place this Saturday, 6th May in London. The recommendations of the Power Inquiry will be discussed by Sir Menzies Campbell, David Cameron, Douglas Alexander and others.

Related Links:

Read Jo's contribution to the debate in full

Power Inquiry homepage