Require electoral candidates to disclose interests in their election address.

To enhance electoral transparency require candidates to declare their current and past interests in their election addresses.

Require electoral candidates to disclose interests in their election address.

To enhance electoral transparency require candidates to declare their current and past interests in their election addresses. This change would enable voters to make more informed decisions and better integrate the Nolan principles into our electoral process.

The declaration should include, but not be limited to: Financial interests (investments, directorships, significant shareholdings) Political affiliations and donations Memberships in organisations or lobbying groups Family connections to relevant industries or political entities Professional qualifications Disqualifications and criminal convictions A standardised format for declaring interests should be implemented to ensure consistency and ease of comparison for voters.

I am writing to propose a significant enhancement to electoral transparency by requiring candidates to declare their interests in their election addresses. This change would enable voters to make more informed decisions and better integrate the Nolan principles into our electoral process.

The petition isn’t public yet, I need 5 people need to click the link and confirm their support for the Government petitions team to check my petition.

Once I’ve gained the required number of supporters, “we’ll check your petition to make sure it meets the petition standards. If it does, we’ll publish it. Once your petition has 21 signatures it won’t be able to add more until it’s been checked by the petitions team. So, please wait until it’s been checked and published before sharing it more widely.

Thanks,
The Petitions team
UK Government and Parliament

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Please will the first five people click this link to sign the petition:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/711463/sponsors/new?token=7fXdQGoYaqsH4JkS6sxa

Proposal:

1. Candidates should be required to declare their interests in their election address prior to elections.

2. The declaration should include, but not be limited to:

   • Financial interests (investments, directorships, significant shareholdings)

   • Political affiliations and donations

   • Memberships in organisations or lobbying groups

   • Family connections to relevant industries or political entities

   • Professional qualifications

   • Disqualifications and criminal convictions

3. A standardized format for declaring interests should be implemented to ensure consistency and ease of comparison for voters.

4. A mechanism for verifying the accuracy of declared interests should be established, possibly through collaboration with Companies House and other relevant bodies.

5. Penalties should be introduced for failure to disclose or providing false information about interests.

6. Provision for ongoing updates to declarations if a candidate's interests change during the campaign period should be included.

7. A public database where voters can easily access and compare candidates' declared interests should be created.

8. A brief explanation of why declaring interests is important for democratic transparency should be included in the election address.

9. Clear guidance should be provided to candidates on how to complete their interest declarations.

10. A review process should be implemented to assess the effectiveness of this measure after its implementation.

Rationale: This proposal aligns with the spirit of Section 177 of the Companies Act 2006, which requires the duty to declare interest in proposed transactions or arrangements. By extension, a candidate's election address is essentially proposing an arrangement whereby they would act as representatives in Parliament, thus necessitating a declaration of interests. Furthermore, this change would significantly enhance transparency in our electoral process, allowing voters to make more informed decisions based on a comprehensive understanding of candidates' interests and potential conflicts. I believe this proposal would be supported by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the National Audit Office, as it directly addresses issues of transparency and accountability in public life.