Keir Starmer’s rewrite of the ministerial code is long overdue

Four months after entering Downing Street – and on a day when media attention was inevitably focused on the other side of the Atlantic – Keir Starmer has published his new ministerial code. There are several important changes from Rishi Sunak’s previous version which underline Starmer’s aim to “restore politics to public service”, as he sets out in his foreword. After a damaging run of negative headlines about appointments, freebies and personnel, the government should use its revamped ministerial code as a springboard to further reforms to standards and ethics in public life.

There are plenty of positives to be found in the new ministerial code

Starmer’s new document addresses some of the major shortcomings of his predecessors’ codes. It makes a clearer division between ministers’ conduct, their interests, and the procedures of government, which will help make it easier for ministers and the public to understand and uphold the rules. The prime minister’s independent adviser on ministerial interests (renamed the adviser on ‘ministerial standards’, to reflect what the role actually entails) now has the power to initiate their own investigations into breaches of the code, something the Institute for Government and other organisations have long called for. The independent adviser can also advise the prime minister on whether there has been a breach of the code – though the prime minister doesn’t have to agree with this decision, as Boris Johnson did in response to the Priti Patel bullying inquiry.

The new version also responds to controversial choices of previous prime ministers. Starmer has reinserted an explicit requirement on ministers to abide by international law, which was removed by David Cameron after the 2015 election. He has also put the Nolan principles of public life back into the body of the code, after Boris Johnson removed them (though the former PM had retained them in an annex). 

Closer to home, after the controversy over Labour ministers receiving gifts and hospitality, the code also strengthens certain reporting requirements. Chris Bryant, former chair of the Standards Committee (and now a government minister) has previously pointed out that while MPs have to declare their interests fortnightly, ministers were only required to do this quarterly – and even then, publications have often been late. The new code moves this to a monthly basis and, where possible, requires ministers to specify the value of hospitality they receive. More importantly, the code recognises that ministers may legitimately need to engage with stakeholders in their roles – but that they should use their judgement about what may be inappropriate lobbying or might be seen as dodgy by the public.

This new code is just the first step to restore ethical standards

Before the election, Labour – with Starmer, deputy leader Angela Rayner and many other senior figures at the fore – focused on the ethical failings of the last government and committed to do better. In his foreword to the new code the prime minister writes that “restoring trust in politics is the great test of our era”. But this new code, while a positive step, is not enough. 

We are still yet to see any details of the government’s proposed Ethics and Integrity Commission. This code, while referring to the Business Appointment Rules that govern what ministers can do after they leave government, has not made any changes to those rules or how they are enforced. And in one area this government has actually unwound one of the few tentative improvements Sunak had committed to: his government said it would “look to” publish information on ministerial meetings on a monthly basis, while Starmer’s government has confirmed that it will stick with the current quarterly timeline – meaning a meeting may actually be declared almost six months after it took place.

This code’s publication was much delayed, but that is more understandable given the extent of the changes. By bolstering the independence of his adviser, and setting out in no uncertain terms what he expects of his ministers, Keir Starmer has taken an important first step in improving standards in government. This is a wholesale, and long overdue, reset of ministerial standards. But more will be needed to build the “government of service” that the prime minister talks so passionately about.