Politics

Andy Burnham drops support for political funding cap

The prime minister will not back amendments to the upcoming elections bill following lobbying from Labour's trade union backers.

Updated Aug 26, 2026 · 20:25 UTC1 reports

The short version

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has decided not to support a cap on individual and organizational political donations, reversing his previous stance of favoring a limit around £500,000.
The policy shift follows pressure from trade unions who warned that donation caps could hurt their ability to fund the Labour Party.
The decision has angered electoral reform campaigners and Labour backbenchers who plan to push for donation limits and other amendments when the elections bill returns to Parliament.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has dropped his support for capping individual and organizational political donations, according to government sources.[The Guardian]
In May, Burnham had indicated in an email to a campaigner that he supported a donations cap in the region of £500,000.[The Guardian]
Trade unions, including GMB, lobbied Labour MPs against the limits, arguing that a cap could have unintended consequences for organizations already subject to strict statutory regulations on political expenditure.[The Guardian]
The government is prioritizing elections bill proposals that target manifesto commitments, including lowering the voting age to 16 and restricting foreign donations.[The Guardian]
Backbench Labour MPs, including Stella Creasy, have proposed amendments to cap domestic donations, as well as separate clauses to ban cryptocurrency donations and curb social media misinformation.[The Guardian]

It remains unclear if backbench MPs will successfully gather enough support to pass any of their proposed amendments to the elections bill without government backing.[The Guardian]