Lobbying Transparency (In-house Lobbyists) Bill [HL]

Baroness Barker Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 3rd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hayward (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to speak in the gap. I did not put my name down to speak because I was at a Madonna concert last night and I was not absolutely certain that I would be available. That is relevant, in that I was a guest of a major company. That company was Grindr, and the question about lobbying is relevant in terms of the actions of major companies. I noticed a number of noble Lords’ response to my presence at the gig last night; it looked like jealousy.

The important thing about this welcome Bill from the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, is that it raises questions about how people lobby now. We have heard a lot of contributions about how circumstances have changed, particularly concerning those people who are paid but do not, at the moment, have to declare the fact that they are actually lobbying. One of the groups that comes to mind is lawyers. Lawyers will claim client confidentiality or say that it is a peripheral interest, but if they are paid to represent a particular view or to advise in relation to a particular issue, it is appropriate that major law firms—or small law firms, for that matter—should be obliged to disclose what they are doing in the same way that others who will be affected by the noble Baroness’s Bill should be required to disclose their actions.

In conclusion, I agree with the questions that the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, raised about some of the implications of the Bill, because it is easy to pass a piece of legislation and think, “Oh, it doesn’t affect small businesses”; there has been reference to small businesses. Every bit of regulation that impacts on a small business adds to cost. Therefore, there are two ways of looking at, or exempting, certain circumstances or occasions that have been cited about private conversations and the like. One way is to ask whether they are paid to do so, and the other is some form of de minimis turnover that might apply in relation to small businesses. It is just too easy to say, “Oh, well, it’s just a little sum of money”. Lots of little sums of money can send a lot of small businesses under and we certainly would not want that to happen. But in broad principle, I welcome the Bill’s objective because it brings us up to date with where we are in terms of lobbying in 2026.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Barker) (LD)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Shinkwin, is hoping to take part remotely, but he has been having audio problems. It appears that the problems have not been resolved, therefore I call the noble Lord, Lord Pack.