Electoral Administration Bill

I strongly endorse what the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth, has just said. We can all recall occasions in the past when there have been candidates who have simply used the system to advertise a particular newspaper or product or service. That is clearly not to be encouraged. The clause as it stands is extraordinarily prescriptive. Given that the Minister has throughout the proceedings in this Committee been anxious to enable the elector—the voter—to understand precisely the status, interests, policies and principles of the candidate, to be as selective and prescriptive as is intended here seems most unfortunate. As my noble friend Lord Rennard says, my party is perhaps peculiarly interested in the local significance of its candidates, policies and approach. I assure the Minister that in Cornwall we would have a particular interest in this, which might not be the same as in the north of Scotland. Now that we represent the whole country, from Shetland to the Isles of Scilly, we are peculiarly susceptible to that interest in local variation.