Transparency International UK has welcomed the government's new Anti-Corruption Strategy [1] as its most ambitious anti-corruption plan in years but warned that critical gaps on political integrity and party funding leave the UK's defences incomplete.
The strategy, launched today by the Home Office, represents the most comprehensive government commitment to tackling corruption since 2017. It includes an honest recognition of the UK's own vulnerabilities, including its fall to 20th place in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index – the country's lowest ever score.[2]
Daniel Bruce, Chief Executive of Transparency International UK said:
"This is the most comprehensive government commitment to tackling corruption in almost a decade. We welcome the ambition and the honesty—recognising that corruption threatens Britain's economy, security, and democracy—and its focus on corrupt insiders, professional enablers, and international partnerships."
"But tackling corruption overseas requires equal ambition here at home—confronting the vulnerabilities that make the UK attractive to dirty money and removing the corrupting influence of big money from our politics. The government has laid down markers by which it will be measured. A strategy is only as good as its implementation."
The strategy includes several significant commitments welcomed by Transparency International UK: a major new government review on asset and beneficial ownership to identify criminal vulnerabilities, consolidated supervision of professional enablers and a newly funded coordinator role, and the expansion of the Domestic Corruption Unit to investigate corruption cases nationwide.
The strategy also adopts Transparency International UK's recommendation for a mandatory code of conduct for elected local government officials in England, with sanctions for breaches.
However, these advances are significantly undercut by a striking absence of concrete action on political integrity reforms. While the strategy acknowledges measures already delivered—such as the Ethics and Integrity Commission— notably absent are caps on political donations and lower spending limits - leaving the UK's political system vulnerable to the corrupting influence the strategy claims to tackle.
Daniel Bruce, Chief Executive, Transparency International UK added:
"The strategy acknowledges that restoring trust in government is 'the great test of our era' yet it fails to address the elephant in the room. The UK still lacks donation caps and reduced spending limits that would provide genuine insurance against the influence of big money in politics.
“There is a lack of action on political integrity with the revolving door remaining effectively unenforced for ministers, and leaving Westminster woefully opaque compared to its international peers."
Transparency International UK emphasised that the strategy's success will depend entirely on delivery. The organisation will monitor progress closely in the coming months, particularly on implementation of priority commitments and delivery of the annual progress reports the government has promised to Parliament.
As the UK prepares to host a global Illicit Finance Summit in 2026,[3] bringing together governments from around the world, Transparency International UK stressed that domestic actions must match international ambitions.
"The world will be watching," said Daniel Bruce. "This strategy sets out the right problems. Now the government must deliver the solutions—at pace, with concrete actions, and on the political integrity reforms it has so far avoided." Transparency International