Party funding reforms are overdue in the UK, but they should not be rushed

At the 2010 election the Conservatives and Labour each spent five times more than the Liberal Democrats, and over 62 times the expenditure by the Greens. The scramble after donors by the top three parties is clearly now distorting British politics, and leading to constitutional tensions – revived last week by the prominence of major party donors amongst new members of the House of Lords. The coalition government’s inaugural agreement pledges to ‘limit donations and reform party funding in order to remove big money from politics.’ Stuart Wilks-Heeg and Stephen Crone agree that a more sustainable model of party funding is needed, based on fairness and diversity. But they warn that precipitate moves may occasion a ‘funding gap’, so that looking for quick-fix changes is not the best strategy