Nolan Principles

Danny Chambers Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Dunbartonshire (Susan Murray) for bringing forward this debate. It is strange to become a Member of Parliament for the first time when trust in politicians is at an all-time low. The feeling of antipathy towards MPs from much of the public bears no relation at all to most of the people I have met in this place. Colleagues across the House work extremely hard for their constituents in surgeries, casework, meetings and debates, and in the long quiet hours that nobody sees.

As with most things in life, however, there are always a few who ruin it for everyone else, those people who do not care quite so much for the niceties or traditions. I believe that we must ensure that we have the rules and regulations in place to hold those people to account and uphold the values of public service if we are to restore faith and trust in politics. I heard the view of the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) that we need a system that supports Members—although I am not sure that we entirely agree on the need for a flexible system to get around the conflicts of interest that some of us face.

If politics is not clean, if politicians are not honest and accountable, and if people cannot trust those whom they send to represent them, then frankly what is the point?

[Dr Danny Chambers (Winchester) (LD)]

In my professional experience as a vet, if I broke the rules and lied about it, I would get struck off. There does not seem to be an equivalent standard for politicians. Surely politicians should be held to account the same as anyone in a regulated profession, whether that is medics, teachers or anyone else who must be registered and maintain a certain standard of public behaviour.

[Caroline Voaden]

My hon. Friend makes the good point that most other professions are regulated to a much higher degree than we are in this place. In 1995, Lord Nolan set out seven principles for public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. They are not complicated. They are what any member of the public would expect from us, and they are written into the ministerial code, the MPs code of conduct and the civil service code. However, time and again in recent years those principles have been brushed aside.

Take partygate, which has been mentioned by many Members: while families were separated from dying relatives and people stood alone at funerals—my family included, that very week—those writing the rules were holding parties in Downing Street. That was a disgraceful failure of selflessness, and above all, a failure of leadership.

Not long ago, the leader of Reform UK received a gift of £5 million from a wealthy donor but did not declare it. The hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), not in his place, claimed that it was for his security and that no rules were broken—