Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the security of domestic elections from foreign interference.

Protecting the UK and our democratic processes from foreign interference is a priority for this Government and we have a number of mechanisms in place to do this.

The National Security Act 2023 provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt state threats.

The Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit (JESP) works between the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) to coordinate election security and preparedness activity within government and externally. This includes working with the devolved administrations, local authorities and the Electoral Commission.

The Government's Defending Democracy Taskforce, chaired by the Security Minister, is focused on safeguarding our democracy from the full range of threats including foreign interference.

The Government has also committed to enhancing the safeguards against foreign funding of election campaigns and will be bringing forward proposals in due course.