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How should the conduct of MPs be regulated? While there is no easy answer, Liz David-Barrett writes that the UK system was, until now, widely seen as an example of international best practice, which makes the government’s attempt to overhaul it in order to avoid the suspension of Owen Peterson all the more astonishing.

It has recently emerged that David Cameron informally lobbied for Greensill Capital to to be given the largest possible allocation of government-backed loans under the COVID-19 corporate financing facility. Liz Dávid-Barrett writes that this new lobbying scandal highlights the urgent need to fix the UK’s anti-corruption defences. She outlines three ways in which this should be done.

If incoming governments in liberal democracies wish to use public contracts to benefit those loyal to them, they face institutional constraints. To implement corrupt procurement strategies they would need to sabotage these checks and balances. By comparing procurement data from Hungary and the UK, Liz Dávid-Barrett and Mihály Fazekas can identify the relative effect of such anti-democratic institutional changes, as seen in Hungary, on government patronage.

Recently we found out that, six months after leaving office as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid will be taking a job with JP Morgan. Earlier in the summer, we saw major donors to the Conservative Party rewarded with elevation to the House of Lords and learned how Housing Minister Robert Jenrick had overruled his own department to grant planning permission to another party donor, and done so in a way that allowed the property developer to avoid a £40m tax bill. In all cases, the public has been asked to take it on trust that the individuals concerned are managing conflicts of interest appropriately and insulating their decisions from improper influence. Liz David-Barrett explains why this trust-based approach to regulating conflicts of interest is no longer fit for purpose.

There are many good reasons for government and business to talk to one another, to understand how the other side works, and to learn techniques that can be transferred from one context to the other. But wherever such interactions occur, there is a potential conflict of interest. The risk is most acute where particular individuals have a foot in each camp. Liz David-Barrett says a ‘revolving door’ between government and business, with individuals hopping between jobs in the public and private sector, is a key concern.

One feature of modern political life is the ‘revolving door’ between business, government, and the civil service. Liz David-Barrett argues that this close relationship can often lead to abuses of office and influence, and that our current system of self-regulation is no longer working.