Kenyon was banned from the Labour Party conference

Kenyon Confronts was broadcast on Wednesday, 22 October, 2003 at 1930 BST on BBC One.

Tony Blair vowed at the 1996 Labour Party conference that he would put the "quango state" in "the dustbin of history where it belongs".

Quangos, or "quasi autonomous non-governmental organisations", are unelected public bodies.

They are financed by the government but supposed to act independently of it and cost the taxpayer �40 billion a year.

When the Labour party was in opposition, it often criticised the Conservatives for packing quangos with its own supporters.

But has anything really changed?

Paul Kenyon journeys around the country in a Union Jack Mini, armed with a massive database compiled over the past five months and asks: Who Rules Britannia?

He finds that failed Labour parliamentary candidates need not despair if they want public office, that donating to the party will improve your chances of gaining power, and that there is plenty of opportunity for Labour activists to get a job on a quango.

Kenyon was also banned from the Labour Party conference after looking into links between Labour controlled councils and money donated to the Labour party.

Producer: Jane Fellner
Assistant producers: Charlie Potter and Alex Millar
Series producer: Sam Anstiss