There is a chance for full transparency of political donations to local political parties in the new Parliament, Alliance North Belfast Westminster candidate Nuala McAllister has said.

Previous Alliance MP Naomi Long secured legislation meaning any large donor to a party here after January 2014 would be revealed once the Secretary of State lifted legislation. However, in 2017, then Secretary of State James Brokenshire announced they would only be published from July 1 of that year.

“Alliance has led the way on donor transparency, but the move by the UK Government to only publish Northern Ireland parties’ donations from July 2017 means big donors between 2014 and 2017 – a period with two Assembly Elections, two General Elections, a local Government Election, a European Election and the EU referendum – can be hidden,” said Councillor McAllister.

“Other parties have talked about supporting donor transparency, with some even making commitments in various manifestos, but their actions have failed to live up to those pledges. Any Alliance MP in the new Parliament will continue that fight for full transparency, back to 2014.

“In the meantime, I challenge other parties to follow Alliance’s example and voluntarily publish their donors in line with current legislation. For as long as secrecy remains around donations, allegations of corruption and cronyism will remain, damaging the public confidence in the entire political system. The only way to combat that is meet that public desire for openness and transparency. That’s what Alliance wants to do.”