UK Parliament / Open data

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

Debate on bills and Committee of the Whole House (HC) on Tuesday, 12 October 2010, in the House of Commons.
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. Programme motion (No. 2) on proceedings in Committee, agreed to on division (323 votes to 256). Committee stage first day. Clause 1, discussed with new clauses 4, 5, 15, 16 and new schedule 1, amended and agreed to on division (337 votes to 240).

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

516 c183-301, (corrigendum) 466;516 c183-301 

Session

2010-12

Department

Cabinet Office

Legislative stage

Committee stage

Procedure

Programme motions
New clauses
New schedules

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Related items

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. Explanatory notes also published (Bill 63-EN).
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Bills
House of Commons
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee third report in 2 volumes with formal minutes, evidence and appendices.
Monday, 11 October 2010
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons
The coalition Government's programme of political and constitutional reform. Evidence 15 July 2010.
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Mark Williams | 516 c241 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being selective. The Bill is one part of a big package. We have not even start...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c241 (Link to this contribution) On further reforms, would it have made more sense to have a proper constitutional debate, perhaps th...

Show all contributions (294)
Mark Williams | 516 c241 (Link to this contribution) I have been in the House for the last five years and the hon. Gentleman has been here only five mont...
Mark Durkan | 516 c241-2 (Link to this contribution) All hon. Members appreciate the remarks of the hon. Member for Ceredigion (Mr Williams). We take bot...
Baroness Burt of Solihull | 516 c242 (Link to this contribution) I am trying to follow the hon. Gentleman's argument and wondering how his constituents might feel ab...
Mark Durkan | 516 c242-3 (Link to this contribution) I fully recognise that the electorate in my constituency and elsewhere in Northern Ireland can cope ...
Mark Tami | 516 c243 (Link to this contribution) If the argument is that the elections and the referendum should be held on the same day, surely we s...
Mark Durkan | 516 c243-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has punctured the argument and identified the inconsistency of the Liberal Democrats,...
Hywel Williams | 516 c244 (Link to this contribution) We have had a very good debate, and I will not detain the Committee with repetition. However, I woul...
Nick Boles | 516 c237 (Link to this contribution) It is every two years, actually, because there are mid-terms. That is the time when all this should...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 516 c237-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to you, Mr Hoyle, for the opportunity to speak in this debate. I say ““debate””, but u...
Jim Shannon | 516 c239 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend will be aware that this week, the question to be asked in the AV referendum was...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 516 c239 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend, and the referendum question will, I hope, be the subject of another deb...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c238 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that the issue of electoral reform does not excite inte...
Mark Williams | 516 c240 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to be called at such an opportune moment. The hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c240-1 (Link to this contribution) On the rare occasions when the Deputy Prime Minister has taken part in any sort of debate on the iss...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 516 c239 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is strange that not one Member has spoken up for the Bill fr...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 516 c239-40 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the same could not be said of my hon. Friend. Doubtless at least one Liberal Democrat...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c249 (Link to this contribution) When did the Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister first read the Gould report? Was that before or ...
Mark Harper | 516 c249-50 (Link to this contribution) The Deputy Prime Minister and I have looked very carefully at the submissions Mr Gould made to the S...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c250 (Link to this contribution) I was not in any way casting aspersions on the electorate. I was casting aspersions on the capabilit...
Mark Harper | 516 c250 (Link to this contribution) I was referring to the debate we had on Second Reading. I shall come on to the hon. Gentleman's cont...
Mark Harper | 516 c249 (Link to this contribution) We have indeed. I was coming to that. Let me try to find the relevant page about Mr Gould so that I ...
Mark Harper | 516 c250-1 (Link to this contribution) Let me just make some progress so that I can deal with the points made in the debate. I also do not...
Mark Harper | 516 c250 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way now to the Chairman of the Scottish Affairs Committee.
Ian Davidson | 516 c250 (Link to this contribution) The comments of Ron Gould to which the Minister has referred deal, I think, with the previous Scotti...
Mark Harper | 516 c250 (Link to this contribution) I do not think the hon. Gentleman was listening carefully enough to what I said. I clearly stated th...
Hywel Williams | 516 c245 (Link to this contribution) I take the hon. Gentleman's point entirely. One of the reasons put forward for holding that referend...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c245 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman mentions previous referendums, but when it comes to counting the ballot papers, i...
Hywel Williams | 516 c244-5 (Link to this contribution) Promotion, indeed. The hon. Gentleman was heroically, magnificently incoherent—so he should go far o...
Chris Bryant | 516 c245 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that there would be a referendum on 3 March. My understanding is that the As...
Mark Harper | 516 c248-9 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that I agree with my hon. Friend that parties campaign on the same issues. In 2005, wh...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c249 (Link to this contribution) There is a question that I hoped to ask the Deputy Prime Minister, but I am afraid that the Minister...
Mark Harper | 516 c248 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Nick Boles), who does not appear to be present ...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c248 (Link to this contribution) I am reluctant to intervene so early in my hon. Friend's speech. However, I think that there can be ...
Hywel Williams | 516 c245-6 (Link to this contribution) I will refer to that point in a moment, but it is a significant one. The questions that immediately ...
Graham Stringer | 516 c246-8 (Link to this contribution) This has been a long debate on clause 1 and one thing that I have learned, and which could apply als...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c280-1 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to move the amendment that stands in my name and those of the hon. Members for Clacton ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c265-80 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Lord Beith | 516 c281 (Link to this contribution) I have every sympathy with the hon. Lady's amendment and the argument that she is putting forward. H...
Mark Harper | 516 c254-5 (Link to this contribution) The overall cost saving from combining the polls is £30 million. That is our best estimate looking a...
Mark Harper | 516 c255 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend will forgive me, I want to make some progress.
Mark Harper | 516 c255-6 (Link to this contribution) The Chairman of the Scottish Affairs Committee made a number of points. I think that I dealt with so...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c256-8 (Link to this contribution) To recap the debate, the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin) made a very good speech...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c254 (Link to this contribution) In July, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw) and I tabled questions about what ...
Mark Harper | 516 c254;516 c253-4 (Link to this contribution) I am just about to deal with the hon. Gentleman's second point, which was about the cost of the coun...
Mark Harper | 516 c253 (Link to this contribution) I simply do not accept my hon. Friend's argument. If we look at the general election this year and t...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 516 c252 (Link to this contribution) If the counting for the Assembly elections is resolved, we still have to address the counting of the...
Mark Harper | 516 c251-2 (Link to this contribution) I am going to make some more progress, or else I will be in danger of not answering the significant ...
Julian Lewis | 516 c253 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend seriously suggesting to the House that there will be no difference in turnout in d...
Mark Harper | 516 c252-3 (Link to this contribution) Off the top of my head, no, I cannot, but I do not see that that point is at all valid. I do not see...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c252 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is dealing with the House with his customary courtesy. I quoted a leading academic on t...
Mark Harper | 516 c252 (Link to this contribution) The Government's position is very clear: there is an imperative to get the results of the elections ...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c282 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman. In a way, it is pretty arrogant for Members to assume th...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c282 (Link to this contribution) I agree. The alternative vote represents a small step forward, but we should be very clear that it i...
Lord Beith | 516 c283 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making a constructive contribution, but she must face the fact that, if she were su...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c281 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but perhaps I am more optimistic than him. I ...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c281 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that what we are doing is repairing the damage done by the gutlessness of ...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c281 (Link to this contribution) Many millions of people in this country will be looking at what some Members do in the Committee thi...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 516 c281 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for giving way; she is being very generous. If there was a groundswell of popu...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c282 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention, but in fact there are plenty of opinion polls, con...
Douglas Carswell | 516 c284 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is being incredibly generous in giving way. Does she agree that if the amendment were...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c284 (Link to this contribution) Unfortunately, I think that the hon. Member is right that this was a shabby political deal done in t...
Ian Lucas | 516 c284 (Link to this contribution) If the Tories and their allies were interested in genuine reform, would they not have produced a dra...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c284 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree. It is also important that we do not underestimate the public. Some say that vote...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c283 (Link to this contribution) I find that incredibly disappointing and defeatist—[Interruption.] Well, it might be said that, had ...
Douglas Carswell | 516 c283 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend not agree that there is something rather bizarre about the position of the Liber...
Nicholas Dakin | 516 c284 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that, if we are going to spend £100,000 at a time when money is short, we s...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c283 (Link to this contribution) I agree, and I very much hope that Liberal Democrat Members will follow us through the Lobby to supp...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 516 c283 (Link to this contribution) Does not the real-world experience of the single transferable vote system show that deals are made b...
Mark Harper | 516 c286-7 (Link to this contribution) I think that my hon. Friend is anticipating the referendum campaign. Tempted though I am, he would n...
Lord Beith | 516 c287 (Link to this contribution) I must, on the grounds of language simplicity, draw my hon. Friend's attention to the Welsh version ...
Mark Harper | 516 c287-8 (Link to this contribution) I am very interested in my right hon. Friend's views. Having a great deal of respect for the Welsh l...
Mark Harper | 516 c286 (Link to this contribution) I expected my hon. Friend to make the point that he has just made, because I have seen his amendment...
George Eustice | 516 c286 (Link to this contribution) I think that the Electoral Commission's wording is a big improvement. It removes words such as ““ado...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c284-5 (Link to this contribution) Well, I thank the hon. Member, but I perhaps agree with that slightly less than with some of his oth...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c285-6 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend studies the focus group research conducted by the Electoral Commission, he will se...
Mark Harper | 516 c285 (Link to this contribution) I want to speak to Government amendments 230, 231 and 232, which relate to the question, and I note ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c289 (Link to this contribution) May I say first to the Minister that one of the things that has crept into the contributions made fr...
Mark Harper | 516 c289 (Link to this contribution) I made it clear that the coalition agreement says that there will be, and the Government's policy is...
Mark Harper | 516 c289 (Link to this contribution) Opposition Members seem awfully obsessed by smoke-filled rooms. Given that this House voted in the p...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c289 (Link to this contribution) Surely it is better to give the public a choice of three or perhaps four electoral systems that are ...
Mark Harper | 516 c288-9 (Link to this contribution) It sounds as if the hon. Lady and those on the Government Benches are doing the same thing; we are p...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c288 (Link to this contribution) I just wish to explain that the options we have proposed for the ballot paper are not ones that we p...
Mark Harper | 516 c288 (Link to this contribution) Let me just finish responding to the previous intervention. Those on this side of the House have mad...
Mark Harper | 516 c288 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has chosen a selection of things to put in front of the public in her amendment; it is...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c288 (Link to this contribution) I do not quite understand how the Minister can say he is happy for the public to make the decision a...
Chris Bryant | 516 c292 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right, but New Zealand is a unicameral system, and I have argued and campaigned in...
Chris Bryant | 516 c291 (Link to this contribution) —as the hon. Gentleman is about to show.
Chris Bryant | 516 c291 (Link to this contribution) Then why is the hon. Gentleman not presenting those amendments tonight? That would be the honest, de...
Douglas Carswell | 516 c292 (Link to this contribution) I helped draft the design of the ballot paper under this amendment. Can the hon. Lady explain which ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c291-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) made a sincere speech in support of her amen...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c292 (Link to this contribution) What the hon. Lady thinks about the system is largely irrelevant. Amendment 7 is designed to allow t...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c292 (Link to this contribution) I did not say that my constituents would not be able to understand. My constituents are very intelli...
Chris Bryant | 516 c289-90 (Link to this contribution) I understand the Minister's point, but I just want to help him avoid becoming too much like the Depu...
Mark Williams | 516 c293-4 (Link to this contribution) May I reiterate to the Committee and to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Austin Mitchell) that the...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c293 (Link to this contribution) I know that there are a thousand excuses for gutlessness, but that is just another one. The Liberal ...
Simon Hughes | 516 c293 (Link to this contribution) As far as I recollect, in New Zealand there were two votes in sequence: one on whether people wanted...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c293 (Link to this contribution) Exactly—that is the point. What we want to do in the amendment is quite simple. We want to give the ...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c294 (Link to this contribution) We have just heard the Liberal Democrats say that they still believe in STV. I wonder whether that b...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c292 (Link to this contribution) Having just heard the words uttered by the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), it is a fact that...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c199 (Link to this contribution) Maybe not happy hours, just hours. Tom Aitchison, the convenor of the interim electoral management ...
Ian Davidson | 516 c199 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that Jim Tolson's submission was one of a number that were made to the S...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c199 (Link to this contribution) I welcome that input from the Chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee. We all look forward to openin...
Mike Weir | 516 c199 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a disconnect, because serious politicians in Scotland will b...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c200 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend's assertion is correct. The referendum, when it arrives, will probably receive very l...
Iain Stewart | 516 c199 (Link to this contribution) If I recall the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998 correctly, the Scottish Parliament has the abili...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c199 (Link to this contribution) I hear the hon. Gentleman's accent. I have heard about the respect agenda, but I smell cultural impe...
Louise Mensch | 516 c200 (Link to this contribution) Which is it to be: will the referendum arouse no interest whatsoever in Scotland because we have wei...
Richard Shepherd | 516 c188 (Link to this contribution) Yes, it was the convention, but conventions have been swept away. Again, that was largely done by th...
Hywel Williams | 516 c188-9 (Link to this contribution) I wish to refer specifically to the Welsh Grand Committee issue. It has met to discuss matters of mu...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c189-90 (Link to this contribution) I, too, will vote against this guillotine motion if the House divides, but I plead with hon. and rig...
Peter Bone | 516 c190 (Link to this contribution) If the House divides tonight, I shall not support the programme motion. A constitutional issue of th...
William Cash | 516 c190-1 (Link to this contribution) I endorse all the remarks that have been made by my hon. Friends, and I, too, will vote against the ...
Graham Allen | 516 c191 (Link to this contribution) The Minister said some fine words about the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee. We tried ...
Ian Davidson | 516 c191-2 (Link to this contribution) I too want to speak about legitimacy and adequacy of consideration in my capacity as Chair of the Sc...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c197 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 155, page 1, leave out line 6 and insert—
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c197-8 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c198-9 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that I may speak to our amendment on the date of the referendum on the voting system. The...
Peter Bone | 516 c183-4 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on the progress he is making with this Bill, but will he explain why t...
Mark Harper | 516 c183 (Link to this contribution) I look forward to a rigorous debate on the issues in the Bill during its Committee stage. I am grate...
Mark Harper | 516 c184 (Link to this contribution) Given the previous Government's record on this matter, I would have thought that my hon. Friend woul...
Chris Bryant | 516 c187 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has talked enough, and he wants us to get on with the business in hand. He said it is o...
Richard Shepherd | 516 c188 (Link to this contribution) It is a bit rich that the hon. Gentleman should repeat the same arguments as those that he listened ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c186 (Link to this contribution) I have to say that the Minister is being remarkably blasé about this. I know that he goes blasé when...
Chris Bryant | 516 c187 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman spoke for longer than I shall, so he can keep shtum for a moment. It would be be...
Adam Afriyie | 516 c185 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a great presentation. The coalition agreement, to which most of us agreed a...
Ian Lucas | 516 c186 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being very generous and very reasonable. In that spirit of reasonableness, wil...
Mark Harper | 516 c185-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. I am glad that he finds my argument compelling, and I am sure that he will ...
Mark Harper | 516 c185 (Link to this contribution) In my view, it is a question not just of the number of pages, but of the substance of the issues inv...
Andrew Turner | 516 c185 (Link to this contribution) Clause 1 covers five pages of the amendment paper, whereas clause 9 requires 12 pages. Debate on cla...
Mark Harper | 516 c185 (Link to this contribution) We made a commitment in the coalition agreement to have the referendum, and the Government believe t...
Charles Walker | 516 c185 (Link to this contribution) But why must we have the referendum in May next year?
Mark Harper | 516 c185 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right that the coalition Government are strong and that there will not be an elect...
Charles Walker | 516 c185 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is being very generous, but bearing in mind that there will not be a general election u...
Mark Harper | 516 c184 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will know that on Second Reading, when the House voted by a considerable margin to su...
Mark Field | 516 c184 (Link to this contribution) The Minister says that he is going to keep this under review, so would he consider changing this pro...
Mark Harper | 516 c184 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a perfectly sensible point. We have allowed the number of days allotted and inc...
Mark Field | 516 c184 (Link to this contribution) I accept, and give credit to party managers for ensuring, that we have a certain protection of time ...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c200 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady misses the point: the way in which the UK is constructed, the way in which finance goe...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c200 (Link to this contribution) I have clearly engaged the hon. Gentleman well, because he anticipates my next point. I remind him o...
Richard Fuller | 516 c200 (Link to this contribution) It is not clear whether the hon. Gentleman's position is that there should be a referendum on anothe...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c200 (Link to this contribution) I am saying not that the electorate have any difficulties, but that the media that broadcast into pe...
Henry Smith | 516 c200 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman truly saying that the electorate lack the sophistication to understand various...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c200-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes her point well; I will add no more, other than to thank her for that interventio...
Cathy Jamieson | 516 c200 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me and with Tom Aitchison, to whom he has already referred, that ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c201 (Link to this contribution) Order. I must advise the hon. Gentleman that he cannot move his amendment. He can speak to it, but h...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c201 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the correction. My mistake reflects a gross lack of experience in this place, for ...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c202 (Link to this contribution) That is outside the purview of my amendment. There might be a perceived advantage to the yes campai...
Graham Stringer | 516 c202 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman stated that, if there was a free vote, his amendment would almost certainly be ag...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c201-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend should call that freedom. It is surprising that this has turned out to be a matter of...
Julian Lewis | 516 c201 (Link to this contribution) May I express extreme disappointment that, as one of the people who signed the early-day motion, no ...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c203-4 (Link to this contribution) We have come to a strange pass when Liberal Democrats hold the United States up as a model of democr...
Lord Beith | 516 c203 (Link to this contribution) There is an obvious reason for that. In the United States, where it is common practice to combine re...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c203 (Link to this contribution) I have had no indication what would happen in that situation. I assume that the Government would acc...
Tristram Hunt | 516 c202 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman any clearer on the Government's intentions if the House of Lords makes a signi...
Mike Weir | 516 c204 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that politicians might discuss public spending cuts rather than the r...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c204 (Link to this contribution) If I may, I will come to the question of broadcasting balance when I have dealt with campaign confus...
Stuart Bell | 516 c225 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Lady on her speech, which is holding the attention of the Committee and, lik...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c225 (Link to this contribution) I take the point that the hon. Gentleman makes, and I recall very well, as I am sure the House does,...
Pete Wishart | 516 c225 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady mentions democracy and her point is spot on. How dare this mouse of a measure—this spl...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c225 (Link to this contribution) Of course the hon. Gentleman may suggest that to me, and I am examining my conscience carefully in t...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c225 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady think that one of the reasons the Deputy Prime Minister is not here is that Conse...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c223-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Thomas Docherty); he made ...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c225 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady might recall that earlier this year the Deputy Prime Minister told the House that this...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c225 (Link to this contribution) I understand what the right hon. Gentleman is saying, but it is not for me to second-guess the Deput...
Naomi Long | 516 c226-7 (Link to this contribution) The Alliance party would generally support reform of the voting system, with the reservation that th...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c226 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. As I have said, I, like most Members of this House, have ever...
Hywel Williams | 516 c222 (Link to this contribution) Clearly, the cost argument is blown out of the water in Wales as we are to have a separate referendu...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c222 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her kind words about the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assemb...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c221-2 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that many of us in this House actually have some respect for the Scottis...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c220-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point more eloquently than I could have done. I susp...
Wayne David | 516 c220 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that to suggest that holding elections and a referendum on the same day is...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c220 (Link to this contribution) As I am sure my nationalist colleagues will remind me, I should be nervous about making the mistake ...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 516 c220 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to take lessons from the hon. Member for Clwyd South (Susan Elan Jones). Having been a Lo...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c222-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. Given the current Liberal Democrat poll ratings, however, I ...
Edward Leigh | 516 c222 (Link to this contribution) I think that one of the Deputy Prime Minister's calculations was that there would be a differential ...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c222 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that point. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South (Mr Harris) is present and...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 516 c218 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman has remembered that Northern Ireland has two elections set fo...
Edward Leigh | 516 c218 (Link to this contribution) That is a very good point and the hon. Gentleman referred earlier to another one about the number of...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c218 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to amendment 1, tabled by me and some 40 other Opposition...
Edward Leigh | 516 c218 (Link to this contribution) There has not yet been enough debate today about Northern Ireland—or, indeed, about Wales—but the ar...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c219 (Link to this contribution) I greatly appreciate my hon. Friend's contribution. Yet again, he has managed to introduce an issue ...
Ian Davidson | 516 c218 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that 8 September is my birthday? On the last such occasion the Government pr...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c219 (Link to this contribution) According to my recollection, all 32 London boroughs held elections on the same day. Regrettably, on...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c219-20 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that excellent point. I cannot go into great deal in the ...
Susan Elan Jones | 516 c219 (Link to this contribution) For the benefit of the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr Jackson), could my hon. Friend explain the d...
David Winnick | 516 c214 (Link to this contribution) If there were overwhelming public pressure for a change in the voting system, one could understand t...
Edward Leigh | 516 c215-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan). I pretty well agreed with...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c215 (Link to this contribution) What compounds that excellent intervention is that just today, the Liberal Democrat MSP for Dunferml...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c215 (Link to this contribution) The point was made before about spoiled ballot papers. Is my right hon. Friend aware that there were...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c214-5 (Link to this contribution) To be fair to the coalition Government, if one believes in reforming the constitution, the only crit...
Edward Leigh | 516 c217 (Link to this contribution) Or hopefully not changing it, as my hon. Friend has said. It does not necessarily help the argument...
Edward Leigh | 516 c217 (Link to this contribution) Exactly. There was a meeting yesterday—perhaps I am giving away what was discussed in a private mee...
Julian Lewis | 516 c216 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I wonder whether he noticed the curious item in yesterday's The ...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c217-8 (Link to this contribution) I have just returned from the British-American parliamentary group visit to the US, with colleagues ...
Tom Harris | 516 c214 (Link to this contribution) For clarification, will my right hon. Friend make something absolutely clear? When the Deputy Prime ...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c214 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made his point. I hope that all Members, whether for or against a change from th...
Hywel Williams | 516 c213 (Link to this contribution) I rise to agree and to make exactly the same point. I disagree with the hon. Member for Ceredigion (...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c213 (Link to this contribution) Another explanation for combining the referendum with the elections on 5 May is that it would save c...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c213 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way again. Does he agree that if the cost to the taxpaye...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c213-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a good point with which many colleagues agree, but I shall move on. In my view,...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c213 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a good point. I shall come to Ron Gould and his report in a moment, but she is r...
Mark Williams | 516 c213 (Link to this contribution) Just to exemplify the point, will the right hon. Gentleman consider Wales and the spectre of three e...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c213 (Link to this contribution) The best that I can do for the hon. Gentleman is to quote from the evidence that the excellent Selec...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c212 (Link to this contribution) What are the reasons for the coalition Government combining the referendum with the other elections ...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c212 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes a good point, but there is an even better point, which is that the issue ...
Ian Davidson | 516 c212 (Link to this contribution) As someone who has form on supporting referendums, not only in the case of Maastricht, but on the co...
Anne McGuire | 516 c211-2 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that my right hon. Friend was not in the House at that time, so perhaps I could remind ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c212 (Link to this contribution) Order. If we are going to have interventions, can I ask that they be a bit shorter than that? Also, ...
James Gray | 516 c211 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman remember the timing of the important referendum on Scottish independen...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c211 (Link to this contribution) One of the important things that the hon. Gentleman has to understand and accept is that one reason ...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 516 c211 (Link to this contribution) I hope that we can introduce some civility into this debate. The shadow Minister really should raise...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c211 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to compare the record of Labour Governments on having referendums and making constitution...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c211 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to take as many interventions as possible, but the hon. Gentleman has to grow up. Just gr...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c208 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to the serious contributions made in the first few speeches. Even if things do not tur...
Julian Lewis | 516 c208 (Link to this contribution) Those of us who do not want AV under any circumstances are actually rather heartened by the fact tha...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c208-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows all about conspiracy theories, and there will be people around the country ...
Pete Wishart | 516 c209 (Link to this contribution) Is not even to call this a mouse of a proposal to give a mouse a bad name? It is like Mr and Mrs Mou...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c209-10 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was, I am sure, in the House when the then MP for Cambridge referred to it as a “...
Anne McGuire | 516 c210 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is strange that a parallel piece of legislation is effective...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c210-1 (Link to this contribution) The reason there has been a push for changing the voting system and for MPs being encouraged to try ...
Richard Fuller | 516 c211 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman admit that it is somewhat hubristic for Labour Members to talk about t...
Nick Boles | 516 c207-8 (Link to this contribution) Has my hon. Friend not just revealed the truth of his position, which is that he has constructed a v...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c208 (Link to this contribution) I am rather touched—I have never been accused of lacking confidence before. I think that the NO2AV c...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c205 (Link to this contribution) The date of 5 May 2011 is losing friends very quickly. The Electoral Commission argues that the env...
Richard Fuller | 516 c205 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to my hon. Friend's speech with great interest. He questions the ability of the media...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c204 (Link to this contribution) When my hon. Friend says ““pro-European,”” I think he means pro-electoral reform. I have no such con...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c205 (Link to this contribution) I draw the hon. Gentleman's attention to the submission to the Scottish Affairs Committee from Faire...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c207 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind the hon. Gentleman that I have not been making a speech.
Justin Tomlinson | 516 c207 (Link to this contribution) Would the electorate really want to come out and vote twice on an issue, when they could get it over...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c205-7 (Link to this contribution) I am merely quoting the former chief political adviser to the BBC who said that it would put broadca...
Justin Tomlinson | 516 c207 (Link to this contribution) Throughout your speech, you have quoted many supportive references, and made a very strong argument,...
Andrew Griffiths | 516 c204 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned the Electoral Commission. Given the commission's role in overseeing the AV ...
Charles Walker | 516 c235 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that our constituents elect us to use our considered judgments on the big ...
Nick Boles | 516 c234-5 (Link to this contribution) It is with great nervousness that I rise to speak, because we have heard so many brilliant speeches—...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c235 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman concede that the Scottish Parliament is the most democratic forum that repre...
Nick Boles | 516 c235 (Link to this contribution) I always defer to my hon. Friend, and in particular on the question whether we are right, here and n...
Nick Boles | 516 c235-6 (Link to this contribution) I am second to no one in this place, even to the hon. Gentleman, in my respect for the Scottish Parl...
Nick Boles | 516 c236 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely not. That is actually the contrary argument. The argument should be that if somebody can ...
Nick Boles | 516 c236 (Link to this contribution) Even in mid-sentence, I give way.
Julian Lewis | 516 c236 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is not only charming, but courteous in giving way so graciously. May I ask him to add...
Nick Boles | 516 c236 (Link to this contribution) I have a lot of respect for the hon. Lady's point. All I say to her is that it should be possible to...
Naomi Long | 516 c236 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. The evidence that I presented during my contribution was ...
Nick Boles | 516 c237 (Link to this contribution) I hate to have words put in my mouth by anyone, let alone the hon. Gentleman. However, he is close t...
Chris Bryant | 516 c237 (Link to this contribution) It seems to me that the hon. Gentleman's argument now boils down to his belief that we should not be...
Nick Boles | 516 c237 (Link to this contribution) I defer to my hon. Friend on elitism, a subject on which he is a great expert. However, calling peop...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c237 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to my hon. Friend for making this speech, because it is illuminating. We have the...
Naomi Long | 516 c228 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman. I would go further: the problem is not just events on the day; acco...
Jim Shannon | 516 c228 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that it is a logistical nightmare to have two elections and a referendum on...
Ian Davidson | 516 c229 (Link to this contribution) What the hon. Gentleman has just said is extremely important—if it is correct. He is saying that the...
Julian Lewis | 516 c228-9 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest (Mrs Laing) made clear, it is a very serious step to ...
Naomi Long | 516 c227-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his contribution, because all the evidence suggests that that i...
Jeffrey M Donaldson | 516 c227 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady will be aware that people who were born in the Republic of Ireland but who reside in N...
Julian Lewis | 516 c229 (Link to this contribution) I have very good circumstantial evidence. If it were left to the Conservatives, they would not wish ...
Ian Davidson | 516 c229 (Link to this contribution) That was a yes, then. The elections and the referendum are being held on the same day solely at the ...
Julian Lewis | 516 c229 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that I much admire his tenacity, his persistence and especially his devotio...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c230 (Link to this contribution) There has been some speculation as to the whereabouts of the Deputy Prime Minister. He was spotted j...
Julian Smith | 516 c232 (Link to this contribution) It is important to clarify the fact that the Scottish Affairs Committee did not take any view on the...
Ian Davidson | 516 c231 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to give way to another member of the Committee.
Julian Smith | 516 c231 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Ian Davidson | 516 c231 (Link to this contribution) May I first make some remarks as Chairman of the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs? We held a sem...
Julian Lewis | 516 c230-1 (Link to this contribution) I shall give a slightly pragmatic answer. Frankly, as long as hon. Members on both sides of the Hous...
Sadiq Khan | 516 c230 (Link to this contribution) Some of us are advocates of AV and would campaign for a yes vote. Does the hon. Gentleman appreciate...
Julian Lewis | 516 c230 (Link to this contribution) I would not bet the farm on it. One of the depressing aspects of the debate, being a touch more seri...
Ian Davidson | 516 c233-4 (Link to this contribution) We were never promising it on the same day. Let me deal with the question of contamination. Many pr...
Ian Davidson | 516 c232-3 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman has just entered the Chamber, so he may have missed my saying that w...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 516 c238-9 (Link to this contribution) I take the hon. Gentleman's point. He spoke at length about his own amendment. Of course people in t...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c265 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 7, in clause 1, page 1, leave out from line 7 to end of line 4 on page 2 and...
Caroline Lucas | 516 c283 (Link to this contribution) That is an argument against STV, but I keep stressing that what we are talking about is the right of...
Mark Harper | 516 c286 (Link to this contribution) That may well be the case, and my hon. Friend and I might find that a very happy outcome, but when t...
Mark Harper | 516 c186 (Link to this contribution) I simply do not recognise the hon. Gentleman's characterisation of my right hon. Friend the rather e...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c201 (Link to this contribution) I rise to move amendment 4, which was tabled in my name and those of my colleagues and which is asso...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 516 c219 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman's argument. He clearly concedes that the electoral ar...
Mark Durkan | 516 c236 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman's argument that politicians are not good at deferring to the people when they ...
Douglas Carswell | 516 c282 (Link to this contribution) Given that it is not every day of the week—indeed, it is not every year—that we send out millions of...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c282 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that AV, which the Liberal Democrats have accepted and which they imagine t...
David Heath | 516 c291 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that we did introduce such amendments, and that he and his colleague...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c292 (Link to this contribution) Why does not my hon. Friend see that it is daft to give the second Chamber a better representative s...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c212 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the House ought to pay attention to the Gould report? That ...
Bernard Jenkin | 516 c207 (Link to this contribution) If we were really keen on reflecting what the electorate of this country want, we would not give the...
Ian Davidson | 516 c234 (Link to this contribution) Ettrick, Tweeddale and Lauderdale? No? Well, whatever seat he has, it is quite a big and complicated...
Nick Boles | 516 c236-7 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised that my hon. Friend has made that argument, because he is a doughty defender of freed...

Notes

Daily part printing error - "Kendall, Liz" added in the Noes at 516 c300 Division No. 69.

Subjects

Constituency size
Alternative vote
Costs
Elections
Electoral Commission
General elections
Local government
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Assembly
Members
National Assembly for Wales
Referendums
Scotland
Voting methods
Reform
Wales
Scottish Parliament
Single transferable vote
Simple majority electoral systems

Legislation

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill 2010-12

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
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