How France, Canada and Germany Funded Cleaner Politics

Other countries have already banned or severely restricted corporate and private donations to political parties, replacing them with public funding models that have proven both workable and popular.

France

Banned corporate donations outright in 1995. Today, only citizens and residents may contribute, capped at €7,500 per year and public financing forms the majority of party funding.

Canada

Prohibited corporate and trade union donations entirely in 2006. Individual contributions are capped at CAD$1,725 per year (£930). Parties rely primarily on individual donations and election expense reimbursements of up to 50%.

Belgium

Caps individual donations at €500 (£430) and provides extensive public funding to the parties.

Portugal

Calculates donation limits per person based on minimum wage, and bans donations from private firms, whether domestic or foreign.

Germany

No outright ban but strict donation caps with full transparency. Substantial state funding is allocated proportional to votes received and membership dues raised.

Quid pro quo?

REGISTER to vote and get £1 of public funds to allocate to a political party of your choice.

That's another scheme considered by the Autonomy Institute to ensure parties are funded according to their popularity and which would encourage politicians to put in the work to appeal to a wide supporter base.

Depending on the definition of an "eligible voter" the proposal could raise £28-£50million a year across the parties.

If defined as all registered voters, as opposed to those who actually voted at the last election, it would result in a £48.2m spending pot.

But if voters must actively assign their £1 on an opt-in basis, then given the 2024 general election turnout of 59.7%, the cost to the government would be capped at around £28.7m.

A universal assignment of £1 per voter approach is an alternative, with the "leftover" that has not been nominated by individuals going to the Treasury. The maximum resulting £48.2m amounts to 0.004% of the total £1.23trillion annual government spending.

The cost of the digital set up and maintenance of this scheme would need to be factored in.