General elections 2024: When should public authorities talk to opposition parties?

What changes in the period preceding the elections?

These constraints change in the run-up to the elections, both during the accession talks and during the pre-election sensitive period.

Access calls

Access talks are meetings between the civil service and the opposition in the months leading up to a general election, during which some restrictions on contacts with opposition parties are temporarily relaxed. Since the intended purpose of these interviews is to inform senior officials of any organizational changes that would result from opposition politics, civil servants may ask questions about the implications of their policy statements – albeit without providing political advice.
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Cabinet Office, Cabinet Manual, gov.uk, October 2011, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79d5d7e5274a18ba50f2b6/cabinet-manual.pdf , p. 16 Riddell P and Haddon C, Transitions: lessons learned: Reflecting on the 2010 UK general election – and looking ahead to 2015, Institute for Government, October 2011, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications /Transitions%20Lessons%20Learned.pdf, p. 23. 34.

Unlike pre-election talks, they are highly confidential.

The Civil Service guidance on access discussions does not specifically mention public bodies. These may be included in access talks led by the relevant Permanent Secretary, but the limited scope of the talks means that representatives from all but the largest public bodies are unlikely to be directly involved.

Historically, some bodies have held discussions with opposition parties independently of their sponsoring departments, which has caused friction among senior civil servants. For example, Sir Mervyn King, then governor of the Bank of England, was criticized by Treasury officials for regularly meeting with shadow chancellor George Osborne before the 2010 general election.
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Riddell P and Haddon C, Transitions: lessons learned: Reflecting on the 2010 UK general election – and looking ahead to 2015, Institute for Government, October 2011, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/ default/files/publications/Transitions% 20Lekcja%20Nauka.pdf, p. 20 34.

Pre-election period of sensitivity

During campaigns for general or local elections, additional restrictions are placed on government action to protect the impartiality of the civil service and prevent misuse of public resources.

This period was previously called “purdah”, but is now called the “sensitive period” or simply “pre-election period”. During this period, civil servants are expected to avoid any action that could or could influence the outcome of the election. Guidance for individual general and local elections varies slightly (publications for all elections and referenda from 2011 to 2024 are collected on Gov.uk), but typically include:

avoiding official support for public announcements that could influence the election result
ensuring that only official visits are supported, not party, political or agitational ones
not using public resources to publicize the party’s political goals
an impartial approach to requests for information from different political parties or campaign groups
refraining from providing ministers with new arguments to use in campaign materials or political debates.

Routine work necessary to ensure the smooth operation of government and public institutions can continue as normal. Guidance is usually published at the beginning of the pre-election period, but guidance issued for previous elections is helpful until then.
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Cabinet Office and Civil Service, ‘Election Guidance for Civil Servants’, gov.uk, www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants

These principles apply to public authorities and services.
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Cabinet Office and Civil Service, 2024 General Election Guidance, gov.uk, 23 May 2024, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/664f56b74f29e1d07fadcdd3/GENERAL_ELECTION_GUIDANCE_2024.pdf, p. 13 .44

Many bodies have their own media and public affairs staff and therefore need to assess communications themselves. In some cases, it may be best to postpone new announcements until after the election, although this should be weighed against the costs associated with the delay, and authorities should also consider whether postponing the planned announcement could itself have an impact on the election result. For this reason, many routine, previously announced statistical releases continue as planned.
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These assessments become particularly difficult if the public body itself “becomes history” in the run-up to the elections. In such circumstances, it is often unavoidable for the body in question to comment on events, although it should say as little as possible until the election. For example, during the 2019 election campaign, Ofcom published a short statement explaining its decision not to launch a full investigation into Channel 4 News following accusations that its “climate debate” had breached principles of impartiality.
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Ofcom, “Ofcom Election Committee Decision on Channel 4 Climate Debate,” Ofcom, December 3, 2019, https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20200102132828/https://www.ofcom.org. uk/about -ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2019/komisja-wyborcza…

During this period, public authorities’ interactions with the ruling party change more than their relations with the opposition. Normally, ministers and public bodies are allowed to discuss policy, but during this period it is not unusual for a body to cancel or postpone meetings with ministers to avoid being perceived as providing policy arguments or ideas for use in the election campaign. In general, public authorities should not take any action that would or could influence the outcome of the election.

Who judges if it is not clear?

Public authorities will inevitably face difficult judgments in the run-up to the elections, which should be approached with caution. In case of doubt, public institutions should consult the sponsoring department, which in turn will cooperate with the regularity and ethics team of the Cabinet of Ministers. On matters relating to the appropriateness of statistical activities, such as the release of data or the conduct of surveys, they should seek advice from the head of the profession in their sponsoring department, who may consult national statistics.
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It is impractical for sponsoring departments or the Cabinet Office to make every decision that each body will face during this period. Public authorities are expected to assess based on published guidance and escalate decisions only where necessary. In doing so, organizations may want to consider whether they would feel comfortable justifying their decision not to consult with the sponsoring department if it were later questioned.