Party funding reform: Canadian experience suggests a negotiated settlement is essential

Despite sweeping reform by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act in 2000, the UK system of party funding regulation remains bedeviled by periodic scandal and pervasive public distrust. The case for further reform to detoxify the issue is now widely-accepted within all the major political parties, and has been echoed by a succession of official reviews. Stephen Crone suggests that the UK look to Canada for inspiration.