UK parliamentary groups disband following new transparency rules

Nearly 40 per cent of All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) have disbanded since new rules came in to improve transparency and reduce foreign influence. As Tortoise’s Westminster Accounts project revealed, APPGs became a gateway for money from lobbying firms and foreign governments to flow into the UK parliament – over £29 million since 2019. The new rules were introduced on 31 March – and of the 722 total APPGs, 288 are no longer on the official register of the groups, which was published yesterday. That’s a dramatic decrease – after the 2019 election, only 125 deregistered as MPs left parliament.