The Good Law Project (claimant/respondent) –v- Minister for the Cabinet Office & anr (defendant/appellant)

Thursday 25th November 2021

The Minister for the Cabinet Office (D) appeals against the order made by O’Farrell J dated 29/6/21 declaring that the D’s decision of 5/6/20 to award a contract to Public First Limited gave rise to apparent bias and was unlawful on that basis.

The case arises out of the D’s  direct award of a contract to Public First, a polling company, on the recommendation of Dominic Cummings. The directors of Public First were said to be known to both D and Mr Cummings.

The complaint is that D failed to consider any other research agency by reference to objective criteria, and that there was a real possibility that the decision to award the contract to Public First was biased.

Lower Court Judgment:

The Good Law Project, R (on the application of) v Minister for the Cabinet Office & Anor [2021] EWHC 1569 (TCC) (09 June 2021) (bailii.org)

View hearing:

Part 1

Part 2