‘The Election of the Leader of the Conservative Party is a Private Matter’ (Tortoise Media v Conservative Party)
Public Law analysis: In the summer of 2022, after the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party ran an internal contest to determine who would replace him as leader of the party, and as Prime Minister. During the campaign, Tortoise Media, a UK-based media company, wrote to the Conservative Party asking nine questions. They submitted these questions because, to test the integrity of the Conservative Party’s internal election processes, Tortoise Media had registered a tortoise, two overseas nationals, and a fictional person to vote in the election. The Conservative Party declined to answer Tortoise Media’s questions replying, ‘the Party is not a public body and does not carry out public functions.’ Political parties are not public authorities within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and so Tortoise Media instead argued there had been violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). To invoke Article 10, however, Tortoise Media had to satisfy section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) and demonstrate that the Conservative Party was exercising a public function. Written by Dr Leah Trueblood, senior lecturer in Law at The University of Surrey.