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Ppolitical scandals after they win enough momentum, develop beyond the initial breach. Only a small number of people were able to avail themselves of certain knowledge that Rishi Sunak intended to fix July 4 as the election day. Justifiably outraged that some of them seem to have taken advantage of this – as first revealed by the Guardian – has mutated into a generalized suspicion of any candidate who placed a bet on the election results. The prospect of a ban on the practice has been raised, following the model already in place for professional sports.
This would not be necessary if candidate MPs and party workers had a reliable intuition about standards in public life. Even if there is no corrupt intent, betting on an election you participate in shows terrible judgment. Democracy is not a game. What may seem like a harmless fling to someone close to the process can seem irresponsible and sleazy from afar. This risk is particularly high in an atmosphere of increasing distrust of the political process.
One of the reasons the gambling scandal gained so much traction on the campaign trail is that it resonated with a broader sense of decadence—the sense that the primary focus of too many politicians is their own pockets. The responsibility for reversing this trend will be if public opinion polls they are right, they soon fall on labor. The legacy of Conservative mismanagement ranges from constitutional vandalism in the passage of Brexit to cronyism in the supply of PPE to Partygate and systematic fraud. Reversing this legacy will be a slow process of demonstrating basic management competence. Economic recovery, a fairer distribution of income and the restoration of public services will do more than regulation when it comes to restoring faith in politics.
But legal and institutional changes also matter. To Sir Keir Starmer manifesto points in the right direction. Labor has promised more robust enforcement of service standards for politicians and those leaving public office, then sought to use their residual influence as lobbyists. Rules on political donations will be tightened.
There are also steps to encourage participation. The voting age will be reduced to 16 and as The Guardian revealed, there is a plan for automatic entry into the electoral register. This mechanism used in many European countries and scheduled for the Senate elections in Wales, removes a significant barrier to voter turnout. With an estimated 7 million eligible voters unregistered, making it easier for them to get to the polls is a sensible step toward expanding representation.
The opposite effect is achieved with the conservatives’ cynical demands on voters show a photo ID at polling stations, ostensibly to prevent fraud, although there is no evidence that misappropriation is a problem. Here, Labor is more cautious, promising to change the rules but not scrap the requirement.
Regulation alone cannot fix a broken political culture. It is impossible to name and ban every behavior that would bring the system into disrepute. Public trust has been eroded over many years, and it will only be restored through a continued display of integrity and transparency. It is too early to tell whether Sir Keir can deliver on his ambitious promises in this regard. For Mr. Sunak, who once ludicrously promised “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level,” it is too late.
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