Contributions
895 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDElections Bill (Eleventh sitting)Thank you, Mr Pritchard. I welcome not just clause 26, but the whole of part 5 of the legislation. As shadow democracy Minister, I have had the unfortunate pleasure of having to…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)This strikes me as a timely point in proceedings to remind the Committee that we all get ill occasionally. Indeed, a member of the Committee is not here because he has…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)We are pleased to see provisions in the Bill on the regulation of digital content. The Electoral Commission has advocated digital imprints since 2003. While digital technology and…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I am slightly concerned that the Minister has not learned all the lessons from the Scottish parliamentary election. By moving to import what we know has not quite worked in…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I beg to move amendment 87, in clause 37, page 46, leave out lines 24 to 26 This amendment removes the ability for promoters of electronic material to avoid placing an imprint on…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I thank the Minister for giving way so early in her speech. Can she help the Committee by explaining why this has been tabled as a Government new clause and was not in the Bill…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I just wonder why it was a Conservative Government who introduced the supplementary vote system for police and crime commissioners if the simple majority voting system is so…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I will give way—I would like to hear the hon. Member’s defence of this.26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I have completely forgotten the hon. Gentleman’s first point, but on the second, there were a lot of spoilt ballots in London this time and that was because the ballot paper was…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)Thank you, Mr Pritchard. For more than 20 years, Londoners have been using the supplementary vote system to elect their Mayor without major incident. There were some issues with…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I agree with the hon. Gentleman: we absolutely should respect a referendum result. That is why I am surprised to see those on the Government Benches riding roughshod over the 1998…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)How well does the hon. Gentleman feel the Scottish Conservatives might do in, say, first-past-the-post council elections in his Glasgow North constituency?26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)The Minister is absolutely correct about the London Mayors, and that first past the post would not have changed the results of any London mayoral elections. Is she aware of any…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)Will the Minister give way?26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I will just let the Minister know the answer to my question, which is, of course, that there are some mayoral elections in England that would have been different if they had been…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I thank the hon. Gentleman for tabling the new clause and for his contribution so far. I read the new clause with interest. From the direction of his speech, I think he is arguing…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I had not planned to speak, but I think this is a good new clause. I do not know what electoral systems a citizens’ assembly would decide on, but I do know that we in this House…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)It will always be a matter for this House to decide. A citizens’ assembly cannot change the law; only we parliamentarians can do that. A citizens’ assembly could put interesting…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I rise to speak to new clauses 11 and 13, which are tabled in my name. Throughout the passage of the Bill, we have had discussions about the security of elections, and there has…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for reminding us of the evidence that we heard at the beginning of the Committee, or that at least some of us heard—those of us who were listening or who…26 Oct 2021