If you live in a marginal constituency and felt bombarded by leaflets, billboards and online ads at the last general election, brace yourself. Last year, Michael Gove dramatically increased the limits on campaign spending. A tsunami of bumf is heading your way.
Ministers argued that the changes – which saw the cap on party spending increase by 80%, and the one on candidate spending by almost a third – reflected inflation since the limits were last set, in 2000. But the shift will only amplify the centrality of big money to politics in the UK, much of it raised from a small number of mega-rich donors. With the election looming, it’s past time we stopped to ask whether there is a less murky way of doing things.
