Party Misconduct Rates in UK Politics: A Decade of Scandals Proportionally Compared
When the headlines focus on political scandals, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture: How often do such incidents occur, and do larger parties genuinely harbour more miscreants, or do incident rates simply scale with size? To answer this, I’ve compiled and visualized proportional scandal rates among UK parliamentary parties using news reports, official council records, and Wikipedia categories spanning 2015–2025.
The chart above shows the rate of resignations, suspensions, and notable misconduct per 1,000 MPs and councillors for each party in 2025, including the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Reform UK, and the Green Party. Party colours are used for clarity.
What’s Behind the Numbers?
-
Data was sourced from BBC News, Sky News, GB News, Byline Times, and Wikipedia (“List of political scandals in the United Kingdom”, “Suspended members”, “Convicted politicians”, council records, and official party press releases).
-
Incidents were included if they involved verified resignations, suspensions, expulsion, or criminal charges, whether at MP or councillor level.
-
The incident rate was calculated as incidents per 1,000 elected representatives (MPs plus councillors), enabling a fair comparison regardless of overall party size. For example, while the Reform UK party is much smaller, its proportional rate stands out compared to the larger parties.
-
Green Party inclusion provides a useful contrast for small-party behaviour and discipline.
Methodology:
-
Each incident was classified under resignations, suspensions, expulsions, or convictions following public scandal or proven misconduct.
-
Representative totals for MPs and councillors as of 2025 were sourced from Open Council Data UK, Wikipedia, and official party membership reports.
-
No attempt was made to editorialize or justify incidents; every case was counted equally regardless of the severity, allowing the data to speak for itself.
Please see the chart above for a visual summary. Readers are encouraged to draw their own conclusions about party culture, standards, and accountability from the proportional rates:
20
