Author: Rowena Mason Whitehall editor

MPs are planning to redact the names of 2,000 parliamentary staff from an official register that has been in place for decades, in a move that experts say will reduce transparency around lobbying by passholders.The proposal has been put forward by the House of Commons standards committee after evidence sessions held in private with staff unions, which raised concerns about the safety of those working for MPs.It would put the Commons out of step with the House of Lords and legislatures in the EU and US, which list most staff members in the interests of transparency.Under the present system, in…

The Green party said its membership had passed 200,000 this weekend in the wake of its victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection, in which it overturned a huge Labour majority.The party’s membership has tripled since September last year, when it was about 68,000, after the announcement of Zack Polanski as its leader.The Green victory in Gorton and Denton is its first in a national byelection, forcing Labour into third place with Reform in second.The Greens now have five MPs and are regularly matching the Lib Dems in the polls while snapping at the heels of Labour and the Conservatives.View…