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11 July 2025 / Neil Parpworth
Issue: 8124 / Categories: Features , Public , Human rights
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Private act, public function?

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Neil Parpworth considers whether electing a new party leader is a public law function for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998?
  • In Tortoise Media Ltd, the Court of Appeal ruled that electing a party leader—even one who becomes prime minister—is a private act, not a public function under the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998), despite its significant public consequences.
  • The Conservative Party was not deemed a ‘public authority’ under s 6 of HRA 1998, so it had no legal obligation to disclose internal leadership election data, even when challenged under Art 10 of the ECHR. But judicial review is still possible.

Section 6(1) of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) lies at the heart of human rights protection in English law by making it ‘unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right’. This begs the question: what is a ‘public authority’ for the purposes of HRA 1998? The answer, however, is less straightforward than in some other

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