“This is an important part of following the Nolan principles of public life and working without fear or favour to vested interests”
Siân Berry MP has released a full log of her first year of official meetings with campaigners, unions, community groups, businesses and other lobbyists, while calling for other MPs to follow suit, and for new rules on MP transparency as part of reform of the Lobbying Act.[1]
Currently, while substantial gifts and hospitality must be declared by all MPs, and Government ministers have to record and release details of official meetings, there is no requirement for details of meetings with lobbyists to be published by MPs. This is in contrast to stronger requirements for transparency from MEPs.[2]
As a London Assembly Member, Siân and her Green colleagues also voluntarily released data on their meetings, matching the practice of London Mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan.[3] Green AMs have repeatedly called for more transparency from elected representatives across the board and a motion for all AMs to follow suit with meeting transparency was supported by Siân Berry but voted down by other parties in 2024.[4]
The data released today by Siân Berry show that she has held meetings to discuss policy with more than 190 representatives of different local and national groups, including:
- Over 75 campaign groups and charities working on issues from airport expansion to nature protection and welfare benefits
- Over five union representatives
- Over 55 local organisations in Brighton Pavilion
Siân says: “The public has a right to know who their MPs are meeting and who might be influencing our work. Today I am publishing the records of my own meetings because I have always been committed to the highest levels of transparency and believe this is an important part of following the Nolan principles of public life, working without fear or favour to vested interests.
“Access to MPs is a vital part of democracy, and people who are affected by our decisions, and those who represent them, need to be able to talk to MPs to present their evidence and arguments, but this must be done transparently and MPs must be more open about the meetings they take part in to discuss policy.”
“I have heard arguments before that this kind of record-keeping is hard to do, but if a backbench MP from a party with much less resources than many other parties can do it, today’s release proves exactly how simple it can be to keep simple notes of our meetings and make them available for scrutiny.
“I would dearly love to see similar data on who Reform UK MPs are meeting. That would be of real public interest. And I genuinely hope every MP colleague will look at this example and join me in publishing records of the campaigns and lobbyists they meet for everyone to see.”
The data released today shows Siân has not held meetings with the fossil fuel industry in her first year as MP. However, in June 2025 the huge extent of lobbying by fossil fuel interests aiming to influence policy and votes in Parliament was revealed by the non-profit think tank Influence Map.[5] The report concludes that: “while the UK does have a lobbying register, it exempts the 85 per cent of lobbyists who operate in-house, and ministerial and official meeting records are disparate, incomplete and often heavily delayed.”
Siân Berry also believes the rules around Government lobbying need urgent improvement. The Committee for Standards in Public Life (CSPL) criticised the quality of data released by ministers and made a number of recommendations on lobbying in 2021, which have not yet been taken up, including for an expanded lobbying register, for Government lobbying meetings to be collated into a single searchable database and for the level of detail released to be increased.[6]
ENDS
Notes:
- Read Siân’s official meeting log here: https://sianberry.org.uk/official-meetings-disclosure-log/
- What are the lobbying rules for MEPs? The Good Lobby, Mar 2025 https://thegoodlobby.eu/what-are-the-lobbying-rules-for-meps/
- Caroline Russell publishes official meeting log again. Jan 2025 https://www.london.gov.uk/caroline-russell-publishes-official-meeting-log-again-reminding-assembly-need-more-transparency
- London Assembly rejects Caroline Russell’s push for better transparency. Feb 2024 https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/london-assembly-press-releases/london-assembly-rejects-caroline-russells-push-better-transparency
- Climate and energy lobbying in the UK. Influence Map, Jun 2025 https://influencemap.org/report/Climate-Lobbying-in-the-UK
- Upholding standards in public life. Final report of the Standards Matter 2 review. Committee on Standards in Public Life, Nov 2021 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/617c02fae90e07198334652d/Upholding_Standards_in_Public_Life_-_Web_Accessible.pdf