Who influences Government?

There are around 14,000 public affairs lobbyists influencing the decisions made in Government.

The industry has doubled in size since the 1990's.

It has grown to be worth an estimated £1.9 billion a year, the majority of which comes from commercial interests.

Lots of different organisations try to influence Government - that's part of democracy.

At the moment there is no way for the public to know who is lobbying politicians and officials, and what they're trying to influence.

Our right to know

With the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency, we want the UK Government to improve the transparency of lobbying.

We'd like to see the introduction of a simple compulsory system that requires disclosure of lobbyists' activities.

Only increased transparency can make ministers, elected representatives and officials more accountable to the public.

Special access

Lobbyists are frequently granted privileged access to decision-makers.

Similarly, policy makers and their staff regularly leave office to join the corporate world and vice versa - what's known as the revolving door.

We also want the Government to strengthen rules to put an end to privileged access and slow down the revolving door.

Ask your MP to sign EDM 1637 and support our call for greater lobbying transparency in UK politics.

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I'm very concerned about the influence lobbyists have over the decisions taken by the UK Government. Since the 1990's the lobbying industry has doubled in size and has grown to be worth an estimated £1.9 billion a year. There is no simple way of knowing who is lobbying Government and on what they're trying to influence. The lack of transparency does nothing to assure me that Government is really being accountable to the UK public. Please sign EDM 1637 and support calls for a mandatory register of individuals and organisations that are involved in lobbying MPs and civil servants, and also an enforceable code of ethics for lobbying activities to ensure their transparency.

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