Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2006

My Lords, I wish to speak to the Welsh order, which is being made under a different Act; it is proposed that it will come into force under the Government of Wales Act 1998, as opposed to the other statutes which give rise to the other regulations. We in Wales are very concerned about the security of the vote and we welcome the measures to improve postal and proxy voting. We look forward to seeing what changes are likely to be introduced before the elections in 2007. The matter is less urgent for us, because we do not have the relevant elections in May of this year. These are holding measures for Wales in case there are by-elections, as I understand it. In previous local elections, great concern has been expressed about fraud, but of course it is no new topic. I recall a colleague of mine many years ago in the 1950s standing, not in Wales as it happened, but in Bootle. He was a bit worried that at 9 o’clock in the morning not many people seemed to be voting. He was told, ““Don’t worry, half the graveyard has already voted for you””. The possibility of fraud in local elections has long been there and it is right that we should tighten the rules as much as we can.