I, too, thank the noble Baroness for introducing the Postponement of Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 2009. She will no doubt be aware that the Liberal Democrats were very critical of the decision to reduce the number of local councils in Northern Ireland from 26 to seven. We raised concern that seven councils, rather than the alternative options of 15 or 11, could lead to the Balkanisation—the word that we used at that time—of Northern Ireland with the inevitable imbalances in political composition. Councils could emerge as strongholds for the political representatives of different sections of the community, which could act as a disincentive for moves to create genuine cross-community power-sharing across the entire region.
We still have those concerns. But, as the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, has noted, we voted against that order in both Houses of Parliament, and both Houses chose to pass it. That is not an argument that I wish to reopen today, but I simply wanted to restate the position that the Liberal Democrats have on this issue.
We have also spoken out in the past about the postponement of elections in Northern Ireland. In 2003, elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were delayed twice before finally going ahead on 26 November. We objected in principle to the delaying of elections, as we believe that that undermined the democratic process and the credibility of local politicians in the eyes of the electorate as their mandate was effectively redundant. We still are distinctly uncomfortable about such moves and, therefore, we are uneasy about the measure before us.
However, we recognise that in practical terms a decision has been taken by the Government to postpone the local elections until 2011. Therefore, operations on the ground in Northern Ireland are moving accordingly. We appreciate the difficulties in trying to reverse this decision. As the noble Baroness has explained, the boundary review and the review of district electoral areas are under way but have yet to be completed. Will she update the Committee on the progress of these reviews to date?
As we have said before, we are uneasy that no date is specified in the order for the next set of local elections, other than that they will be in 2011, but I hear what she says about that. Finally, I should like to ask again whether the noble Baroness can give an indication of when she intends to return to this House with a proposed date.
Postponement of Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 2009
Proceeding contribution from
Baroness Harris of Richmond
(Liberal Democrat)
in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 4 February 2009.
It occurred during Debates on delegated legislation on Postponement of Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 2009.
About this proceeding contribution
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2008-09Chamber / Committee
House of Lords Grand CommitteeSubjects
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