- In 2018-2019 there were 1,844 public appointments and reappointments to quangos and NHS bodies in England and Wales.
-
8.6 per cent of all appointees and reappointees made in 2018-2019 declared significant political activity. Of these, 47.4 per cent were Labour party supporters, 31.6 per cent declared an affiliation to the Conservatives, 10.5 per cent to the Liberal Democrats and 10.5 per cent supported other parties.
- As the ConservativeHome website have been reporting since 2012, our research showed that 57 per cent of political appointees in the last year of John Major’s premiership had a political allegiance with the Conservatives, compared to 2018-2019 where only 31.6 per cent declared as being politically active for the Conservatives.
- The most and least popular areas where UK government appointees and reappointees had their principal residence was the South East (16.3 per cent), compared to 2.2 per cent in the North East.
Public bodies or quangos carry out much of the government’s work, with their responsibilities growing significantly. The departments for culture, health, transport and the environment being especially reliant on these semi-autonomous bodies to deliver public services.1
Click here to read the briefing.
1. Institute for Government, Public spending, 2019, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/whitehall-monitor-2019/publicspending, (accessed 13 January 2020).