The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,
Declares that companies which donate to political parties have gone on to receive billions of pounds in public contracts; and further declares that this creates a perception that political decisions are shaped by cosy relationships with super-rich donors, instead of a sole focus on delivering better living standards and services for millions of people.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to ban political donors from receiving public contracts with Governments of political parties they have donated to.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Neil Duncan-Jordan, Official Report, 14 July 2026; Vol. 789, c. 900.]
[P003226]
Observations from the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mark Ferguson): This Government take concerns regarding the integrity of public procurement very seriously. We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of transparency and impartiality in the award of all public contracts.
Public procurement is governed by a legislative framework that requires that contract award decisions are made solely on the basis of objective commercial criteria, including value for money, quality, and capability. The legislation is designed to ensure fair, open, and transparent competition, and it requires all public authorities to manage conflicts of interest robustly throughout the procurement life cycle.
The Procurement Act 2023, which came into effect in 2025, has strengthened the rules for contracting authorities on managing conflicts of interest. The Act requires contracting authorities to identify and keep under review actual and potential conflicts of interest. As a result, commercial teams across the public sector have been taking steps to improve their approach to identifying and mitigating any conflicts of interest. We have published guidance and templates to support this.
For conflicts of interest that may exist within suppliers, the Government’s supplier code of conduct makes clear that we expect suppliers to mitigate appropriately against any real, potential or perceived conflict of interest.
Furthermore, civil servants and Ministers are bound by codes of conduct that require the disclosure and management of potential conflicts of interest to ensure that personal or political associations do not bias decision-making.
The Government are clear that political donations should never influence the award of Government contracts. Contracting authorities can exclude a supplier for a broad range of misconduct and offences, such as bribery, breach of contract and poor performance. Exclusion grounds also cover situations where a supplier has acted improperly during the procurement process, resulting in an unfair advantage in relation to the award of a public contract.
Exclusion decisions are dealt with on a case-by-case basis and are procurement-specific; suppliers may also be added to a central debarment list by the Cabinet Office. If a supplier is placed on the debarment list they may or must not be awarded public contracts, depending on the seriousness of the misconduct or offence. We will not hesitate to make use of those powers where there is evidence of wrongdoing.
We are committed to delivering the highest level of transparency regarding public spending. All significant Government contract awards are published online, allowing for scrutiny of how public money is spent, with transparency notices mandated for direct awards and contract performance.
This Government are ensuring that procurement decisions are made on merit, free from favouritism, so that the public can have full confidence that every contract is awarded fairly, transparently, and in the best interests of the public.