Representation of the People Bill: progress of the bill

The Representation of the People Bill 2024-26, 2026-27 was introduced in the House of Commons on 12 February 2026. The bill had its second reading on 2 March 2026.

Committee stage took place over nine sittings from 18 March to 16 April 2026. The first two sittings were evidence sessions, where the committee heard from external witnesses. The remaining seven sittings were held from 24 March to 16 April 2026. The 2024–26 session of Parliament ended on 29 April 2026 without the bill progressing further.

As the bill was a carry-over bill, it meant it was reintroduced and given a formal first and second reading in the new session of Parliament on 14 May 2026. Its next stage will be report stage. At the time of writing, no date has been announced.

The bill, explanatory notes and associated documents are available on the bill’s page on the parliamentary website. The Commons Library published a briefing on the bill, in advance of its second reading, on 20 August 2025. This briefing sets out the main business from second reading and in committee. The Commons Library briefing, Elections glossary, may be of help with some of the terms used.

Second reading

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, introduced the bill by highlighting its main provisions:

• reducing the voting age to 16 for UK Parliament elections and local elections in England and Northern Ireland
• creating the power to introduce more automated electoral registration and the power to pilot approaches before implementation
• adding bank cards to the list of approved voter ID
• strengthening the rules around political donations to minimise the risk of foreign donations entering British politics
• expanding and strengthening the powers of the Electoral Commission to enforce donations rules
• introducing technical changes to the nominations process and deadlines for postal votes at elections

These fulfilled many of the measures in the UK Government’s election strategy policy paper, which was published in July 2025.

Electoral Commission strategy and policy statement

At second reading, the government announced that it intended to abolish the power for the government to set a strategy and policy statement for the Electoral Commission. This power was established by the Elections Act 2022. The power was controversial when it was introduced and was opposed during the passage of the Elections Act by the Electoral Commission and opposition parties in Parliament, including the Labour Party.

Opposition parties’ view

The Conservative Party tabled a reasoned amendment that said the bill should be rejected. The Conservative Party spokesperson, Sir James Cleaverly, argued that reducing the voting age was inconsistent with the age of majority (18), that automatic voter registration would lead to less accurate registers and that the measures on reducing foreign interference were insufficient.

The Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the SNP all welcomed the lowering of the voting age and broadly welcomed automatic voter registration.

Reform UK and the TUV opposed the lowering of the voting age.

The technical changes to nomination processes and the expansion of the Electoral Commission’s enforcement role were broadly welcomed.

Foreign interference and the Rycroft Review

All parties welcomed the measures intended to reduce foreign interference, but many contributors argued that they did not go far enough. Several MPs mentioned the Rycroft Review and the lack of provision in the bill about regulating cryptocurrency donations. Others wanted to cap political donations.

In December 2025, the UK Government announced an independent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics. At the time, the government said any recommendations would feed into the “forthcoming” elections bill. The Rycroft Review was published on 25 March 2026, after the bill’s second reading.

The review made 17 recommendations, which included to amend the bill. Several opposition and backbench amendments were proposed at committee stage, but none were agreed.

Committee stage

The bill was amended at committee stage. Only government amendments were agreed. The amendments were mostly technical but included changes that would:

• require bank cards used as voter ID to show the expiry date and to have not expired (photo ID can be expired as long as the photo is a good enough likeness)
• prevent unincorporated associations from being able to donate to each other to get around donation rules and prevent gifts being channelled through chains of unincorporated association
• create a new criminal offence where a person knowingly provides an unincorporated association with false information about a gift that they believe the association may use for the purposes of making a political contribution

The government also added two new clauses that would:

• repeal the strategy and policy statement provisions in the Elections Act 2022 (it became clause 70 of the bill as amended)
• ensure Scottish ministers have a relevant power for altering thresholds for ‘know your donor’ requirements in relation to devolved elections (it became clause 63 of the bill as amended)

Opposition parties

The Conservative members of the committee voted against votes at 16, automated electoral registration and adding bank cards to the list of approved voter ID. They also voted against creating a power to hold pilot schemes for automated registration.

Measures relating to the conduct of elections, other than voter ID, were uncontentious and approved. The Liberal Democrats and the Green members of the committee supported a new clause that would have repealed the voter ID requirements in the Elections Act 2022, but this was defeated by 10 votes to 2.

Rycroft Review

The Rycroft Review was published while the bill was at committee stage. The UK Government accepted two of Rycroft’s recommendations immediately:

• capping donations from registered overseas electors
• introducing an immediate moratorium on accepting cryptocurrency donations

Both would require legislative provisions to be applied retroactively.
The government did not bring forward amendments at committee stage.

The committee considered various opposition and backbench amendments and new clauses stemming from recommendations in the Rycroft Review. The government said it was sympathetic to the intention of some of the amendments, but they were all rejected. The minister, Samantha Dixon, said that the government would set out a full response to the Rycroft Review “including whether making further amendments to the Bill would be appropriate” in due course.

The government rejected various amendments relating to digital campaigning, including in relation to deepfakes, AI-generated content and misinformation. It said that these would be better regulated by Ofcom under Online Safety Act provisions, and that blurring the lines between Ofcom and the Electoral Commission would “risk duplication in an area where clarity is essential”.

The provisions on extending the Electoral Commission’s powers were uncontentious, although the Conservative Party queried whether the commission would have sufficient resources to take on additional responsibilities. The government rejected two new clauses inspired by the Rycroft Review on giving the Electoral Commission additional information-sharing powers. The government again said it would consider the review fully before coming back with amendments to the bill.

The provisions relating to intimidation during elections were uncontentious and were approved.

New clauses not approved

Other new clauses considered but rejected would have:

• allowed overseas voters to print ballot papers and vote at British embassies and required the UK Passport Office to provide information on voter registration to overseas voters when they apply for or renew a passport
• allowed prisoner voting for reserved elections for those serving a sentence shorter than four years
• capped individual donations
• reduced national campaign expenditure limits during elections
• created a fund to assist disabled candidates at elections in England (funds already exist for elections in Scotland and Wales and the UK Government is already considering a new fund for England)
• prohibited foreign language election leaflets
• required statutory guidance to returning officers on the enforcement of the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023
• created an offence of misleading the public by candidates in parliamentary elections

A new clause tabled by the Liberal Democrats to introduce proportional representation for all national and local elections was not selected and therefore not debated.