A Bill which prevents rich tax exiles from making huge donations to political parties received Royal Assent last night and is now the law of the land. 

The new “tax exile” provisions in the Political Parties and Elections Act represent a personal triumph for local MP, Gordon Prentice, whose single minded determination forced a change in the law. 

His Commons amendments, initially opposed by the Government, were taken up, word for word, in the House of Lords by Lord Dale Campbell-Savours and pressed to a vote. For the first time ever, more Labour Peers voted against the Labour Government on one of its own measures than voted for it. 

Justice Minister, Jack Straw, at that point conceded defeat. 

Under the Act, donors to political parties who give more than £7,500 a year will have to sign a declaration that they are UK residents for tax purposes. If they misrepresent their tax status they can be jailed. 

Speaking from his constituency office in Nelson earlier today, the MP said: “It has been obvious for years, for anyone with eyes to see, that millionaire tax exiles such as the former Conservative Vice Chairman, Lord Laidlaw, were buying elections by pouring cash into target constituencies.”  

“I am delighted the tax exile loophole is, at long last, to be closed. However, this part of the Bill will not take effect until after further consultation by the independent watchdog, the Electoral Commission.” 

“The plain fact is this should have been done years ago. The changes will come too late to influence spending in the run up to the forthcoming General Election.” 

Note to Editors: The Electoral Commission writes: The Political Parties and Elections Act has now received Royal Assent. Whilst the Bill was before Parliament, we committed to produce an enforcement policy that would set out how we intend to put these changes into effect.  We have now launched a consultation on our future enforcement policy, which can be found here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/focus-on-items/PPE