Public Appointments: Political Impartiality
The question
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answers of 3 September 2025 to Questions (a) 70458 on Government Departments: Directors and (b) 71225 on Public Appointments: Political Impartiality, through which process previous political activity of a regulated appointee is publicly declared if that political activity falls under the definition of political activity under the Governance Code on Public Appointments but does not fall under the definition of political activity under the guidance for Non-Executive Board members interests.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Governance Code on Public Appointments requires the public disclosure of political activity within the last five years for successful candidates. The Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies requires appointees to comply with the rules of the appointing body on handling conflicts of interests, which typically require the public declaration of potential conflicts, usually in the body’s register of interests.
The general guidance on the declaration of interests process for Non-Executive Board Members, which would include political activity, is published on Gov.uk, with the intention of standardising the management and publication of such interests across UK Government departments in order to increase consistency and transparency around those interests, as recommended by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
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