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Leading democracy experts have hit out at the dire state of ethics and integrity in the last Conservative Government, in a warning to the party’s new leader Kemi Badenoch to learn from their mistakes.
The United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group (UKCMG) is run by the independent Constitution Society and made up of leading academics and former Government practioners, including Lord John Thomas, Dame Ursula Brennan, Sir Richard Mottram, Sir Paul Silk and a suite of respected professors.
The timeframe of their ‘state of the constitution’ report covers the period between July 2023 and July 2024, while Kemi Badenoch was in Government serving as Rishi Sunak’s Trade Secretary.
The new Conservative leader has already faced criticism for her comments on Government scandals since being elected.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg at the weekend, “anti-woke” zealot Badenoch described the reaction to Partygate – repeated rule-breaking by No 10 figures during the pandemic – as “overblown”. Bereaved families have called the remarks “insulting and extremely painful”.
Professor Andrew Blick, editor of the report, said: “We do not take party positions. But this report – like all our previous ones – reflects a period in which the Conservatives held office at UK level.
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“As the new Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch has the opportunity to reset the approach of her party in this era. We will be looking equally closely at the record of Keir’s Starmer’s Labour Government going forward. It is imperative that we reverse the troubling trends identified in this report to restore public trust and safeguard democratic norms.”
The report strongly criticises the Government’s conduct during the election campaign, particularly regarding the misuse of so-called ‘Civil Service costings’.
Impartial officials found themselves in an awkward position when Sunak’s Government misrepresented figures, designed to criticise Labour leader Keir Starmer’s supposed tax plans, as having been calculated by “independent civil servants”. The material that it was based on came from the Conservative Party.
Attacks on public servants under Rishi Sunak’s final year in office also come under scrutiny.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman repeatedly departed from collective Cabinet responsibility, Professor Blick argues, by controversially questioning police integrity over their handling of pro-Gaza protests.
The then-Prime Minister’s delayed response in removing her from office only added to these concerns.
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Meanwhile, then-Minister for ‘Common Sense’ Esther McVey faced backlash for a speech that undermined the Civil Service by suggesting they were engaged in “inappropriate backdoor politicisation” and distracted by “fashionable hobbyhorses.”
Kemi Badenoch has since suggested that 5-10% of civil servants are “very bad” and “should be in prison”, keeping the Conservative culture war against them alive.
The report also raises Ministers’ extensive use – and alleged misuse – of WhatsApp during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The deletion of important Government messages on the platform has significantly damaged public trust, Professor Blick argues.
This ties into broader criticism about lobbying transparency, with reports highlighting consistently late, missing, and inadequate information in Government releases.
And the last Government’s controversial plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was deemed “constitutionally inappropriate” by a House of Lords Committee, after Ministers over-rode a Supreme Court ruling saying that Rwanda was unsafe by passing a law claiming the opposite.
Where does democracy stand now? The report argues: “Unfortunately, the UKCMG has found much reason for apprehension…Some of the most critical and controversial matters in UK politics of the last four years (and indeed since 2016) have involved the constitution. This position is not healthy. A system that is constantly in question cannot function properly.
The author adds that lessons remain for Keir Starmer’s Government. “When they inherit practices, policies and laws introduced under their predecessors, ministers must decide how to respond to them: to continue, modify or fully reverse.”
But “certain unfortunate trends” raised under Boris Johnson continued under Rishi Sunak, the Constitution Society warns.
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The analysis comes as Kemi Badenoch begins her first week as Conservative Party leader and Leader of the Opposition, after winning the party leadership contest against Robert Jenrick.
She has already faced criticism in the role after appointing a series of Shadow Cabinet members involved in previous government scandals.
Badenoch appointed former Home Secretary Priti Patel as her Shadow Foreign Secretary, despite previously having left government in disgrace after it was discovered that she had held a series of secret unauthorised meetings with Israeli Government officials.
She has also appointed Jenrick as her Shadow Justice Secretary, despite his previous involvement in a lobbying scandal involving a Conservative donor and despite her own recent suggestion that he has a “whiff of impropriety” about him.
Badenoch, who represents Saffron Walden, made history this week as the first Black leader of a major UK political party.
She is seen as a true-believer on the Right of the party, having questioned maternity pay and previously describing online safety legislation as “legislating for hurt feelings”.
She also previously admitted to hacking former Labour MP Harriet Harman’s website in what she claimed was a “foolish prank” in 2008, before Badenoch was an MP. (The prank was a crime).
Other democratic scandals while Kemi Badenoch was a Secretary of State under Sunak, according to the Constitution Society:
- The abrupt calling of the election led to the loss of significant parliamentary business, including 10 major bills
- The “fast-track” or “VIP Lane” process damaged trust in political institutions
- The Westminster diktat opposing Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill represented a “failure” by both governments
- Boris Johnson continued to cause problems even after leaving office, including controversial House of Lords appointments and ACOBA criticism, without sanction from Sunak’s Government
- Government figures made “unsubstantiated claims” about a supposed £75 billion defence spending increase
- Misleading claims to Parliament about small boat crossings and how much they’d come down
Labour did not emerge entirely unscathed by the new report, with then Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething showing a “lack of integrity” over a donation scandal, leading to his resignation and replacement, according to the report.
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