More people than ever before are being accused of misconduct in public office, and recent years have seen a number of high-profile allegations, investigations and prosecutions of the offence. But the existing law does not clearly define either what is meant by ‘misconduct’ or who holds ‘public office’. It is unclear, ambiguous and in need of reform. This paper suggests that a new, clear statutory offence would remove ambiguity and offer a solution to the problems with the existing law. The Law Commission proposes two forms such an offence might take and ask consultees whether either or both should be taken forward into legislation. The paper also explores options for setting out a more rigorous definition of public office and asks consultees how that might be reflected in statute