UK Parliament / Open data

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

Debate on bills and Committee of the Whole House (HC) on Tuesday, 19 October 2010, in the House of Commons.
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. Programme motion (No. 3) on proceedings in committee agreed on division (327 to 233). Committee stage third day. Clause 7 agreed on division (327 to 224), schedule 6 as amended agreed to. Clauses 8 to 10 under consideration. Debate adjourned, progress reported, debate to be resumed tomorrow.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

516 c832-919 

Session

2010-12

Department

Cabinet Office

Legislative stage

Committee stage

Procedure

Programme motions

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

Proceeding contributions

Mark Harper | 516 c855 (Link to this contribution) Let me deal with the questions that I have been asked. The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) wa...
Chris Bryant | 516 c855 (Link to this contribution) I am sure the Minister will say this in a moment, but provision is made for that in schedule 6, whic...

Show all contributions (374)
Iain Stewart | 516 c855 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who clearly has a greater detailed knowledge of the Bill than m...
Chris Bryant | 516 c856 (Link to this contribution) The difficulty is with the way in which the Bill has been constructed to have some elements of the p...
Mark Harper | 516 c856 (Link to this contribution) I hesitate to jump forward, Mr Gale, because we are going to debate schedule 6, which is linked to t...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 516 c855 (Link to this contribution) The Minister talks about the voter expressing a clear preference. The practice in Northern Ireland u...
Mark Harper | 516 c855 (Link to this contribution) As in many of these issues, it is about whether there is a clear mark. If the elector marks the pape...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c856 (Link to this contribution) It is quite clear which people have not had the benefit of National Union of Students' training, as ...
Mark Harper | 516 c856 (Link to this contribution) We cannot put in a piece of legislation every single possible scenario; that is not done in existing...
Christopher Chope | 516 c852 (Link to this contribution) Actually, it was a very sensible system, not dissimilar to the one operated in France. Basically, th...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c853 (Link to this contribution) Order. With great respect, we have moved an extremely long way from the purpose of the original amen...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c853 (Link to this contribution) Order. Ms Primarolo has said that there will be a stand part debate, but she and I are agreed—and I ...
Christopher Chope | 516 c853 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, Mr Gale. I was trying to give a full answer to the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c853 (Link to this contribution) The most important element of the clause is the fact that it turns an advisory referendum into an im...
Chris Bryant | 516 c853-5 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the Minister will be able to respond when he replies to the debate, because I have a few oth...
Iain Stewart | 516 c855 (Link to this contribution) I wish to make a very brief contribution on a specific technical matter regarding the counting of th...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c864 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government amendments 199 to 202. I unde...
Mark Harper | 516 c864-5 (Link to this contribution) These Government amendments—following our debate yesterday—genuinely fall into the technical categor...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c860 (Link to this contribution) I ask the Serjeant at Arms to investigate the delay in the No Lobby.
Mark Harper | 516 c864 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 198, page 147, line 18, leave out '45A(4) or (5) above in' and insert '45A a...
Mark Harper | 516 c859 (Link to this contribution) To return to my previous point, the hon. Gentleman should read clause 6 more closely. It states:"““T...
Chris Bryant | 516 c859-60 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not think the Minister was, because he is relying on what happens in the rest of the Bill. ...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c866 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to my hon. Friend for not being clear enough. I was referring to the 2015 elections, whe...
Chris Bryant | 516 c865-6 (Link to this contribution) As I have said previously, one difficulty that we as a Committee have in debating the Bill is that w...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c865 (Link to this contribution) This is obviously a very technical and complex debate, but does my hon. Friend agree that that is ex...
Chris Bryant | 516 c865 (Link to this contribution) In light of your earlier comments, Mr Gale, I hope that it is okay for me to stray into a debate abo...
Mark Harper | 516 c856 (Link to this contribution) So he wants to know what will happen if there were a yes vote and the system were brought in. Clearl...
Thomas Docherty | 516 c857 (Link to this contribution) Before the Minister moves on, let me ask my last question again, as he began to answer it and then m...
Mark Harper | 516 c857 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is rather jumping ahead; we have not even passed the legislation for the referend...
Mark Harper | 516 c856 (Link to this contribution) I am not entirely certain whether the hon. Gentleman wants to know about the information that is req...
Chris Bryant | 516 c859 (Link to this contribution) I think we have discovered another problem in the clause, have we not, in relation to what the Minis...
Mark Harper | 516 c857 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that clarification, but he will forgive me if I do not want ...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c857 (Link to this contribution) It was not the STV system that created the difficulty in Scotland, but the way in which the lists we...
Mark Harper | 516 c857-9 (Link to this contribution) The first thing for me to do is draw the hon. Gentleman's attention to the part of the Bill that tal...
Chris Bryant | 516 c857 (Link to this contribution) Let me ask a brief question. If there were a by-election for a parliamentary seat next year, after a...
Chris Bryant | 516 c866-7 (Link to this contribution) That is a good point, although I have not yet given up on the idea that the Government's Fixed-term ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c868 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that that is right. I know about the instance that the hon. Gentleman mentions. Becaus...
Mark Harper | 516 c867 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman seems to be mostly concerned about publicity in relation to the declaration of re...
Lord Barwell | 516 c848 (Link to this contribution) In my experience of council elections, most people cast votes in accordance with the number of vacan...
Mark Harper | 516 c848 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell), whos...
Christopher Chope | 516 c849 (Link to this contribution) It appears that my hon. Friend will not address the following question: if my amendment does not ach...
Mark Harper | 516 c849 (Link to this contribution) I will try not to stray too far outside the terms of this debate, and I will not get into a debate f...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c849 (Link to this contribution) Order. The Minister is addressing very clearly a number of complex points, and I realise that he is ...
Christopher Chope | 516 c849 (Link to this contribution) Can my hon. Friend answer clearly whether he believes the London system—which I have described as th...
Iain Stewart | 516 c846 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful, Ms Primarolo. I should have thought that the views of the parliamentary Labour p...
Robert Syms | 516 c846 (Link to this contribution) I believe that the amendment draws attention to something that is at the heart of the debate about A...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c845-6 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows that the views of the parliamentary Labour party, vast or ...
Robert Syms | 516 c847 (Link to this contribution) I have always supported first past the post, but if I were to argue for any alternative I would go f...
Chris Bryant | 516 c847 (Link to this contribution) I believe that the hon. Gentleman is opposed to the use of AV, full stop, and will argue for a ““no”...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c847 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that in Wales and Scotland there was a list to balance the inequities of fir...
Mark Williams | 516 c848 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman's point not borne out by the fact that in multi-member wards where people are ...
Robert Syms | 516 c847 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that the average voter will be much impressed by having a choice between one to seven ...
Lord Barwell | 516 c847-8 (Link to this contribution) I will be very brief and I will try to stick directly to the issue in hand. I agree with my hon. Fri...
Chris Bryant | 516 c852 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is absolutely right. In the present system, in multi-member wards in local government e...
Mark Harper | 516 c852 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I am conscious, Mr Gale, that the Chair will permit a stand pa...
Christopher Chope | 516 c852 (Link to this contribution) This has been a useful debate, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Minister for what he said. I ...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c852 (Link to this contribution) I often hear Conservative party members, in particular, talking about first past the post or even ad...
Mark Harper | 516 c851 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very good point, and that is exactly why we chose the optional preferential s...
Mark Harper | 516 c851 (Link to this contribution) I will give way once more, to the Labour Front Bencher, and then I will make progress.
Lee Scott | 516 c851 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that if somebody chooses to vote for only one candidate, that is a matter ...
Mark Harper | 516 c851 (Link to this contribution) Well, no. That is a common misconception. A person's vote is counted only once at any one time, but ...
Mark Harper | 516 c851 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that point. I have seen the odd piece of analysis that says that...
Mark Harper | 516 c850-1 (Link to this contribution) It is difficult to start to get behind what is on ballot papers, and to analyse the amount of though...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c851 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that the Minister is trying to be very fair in how he and the Government draw up the sy...
Mark Harper | 516 c850 (Link to this contribution) That is not what I said, and my hon. Friend will know that we are discussing the system for electing...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c850 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the Minister can help me with a further point. It is good to see the Government being so nic...
Christopher Chope | 516 c850 (Link to this contribution) If the Minister is saying that the coalition Government are against the AV system used to elect the ...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c851 (Link to this contribution) I shall not change my name back to Haddock, at any rate. My point was simply that if somebody uses a...
Mark Harper | 516 c850 (Link to this contribution) We have put a version of AV in clause 7, so that is clearly the system the Government believe the vo...
Christopher Chope | 516 c839 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c839 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil) intervenes, may I remind the Com...
Christopher Chope | 516 c839 (Link to this contribution) It is exactly the same syndrome as somebody who wins the 100 metres in the Olympics by a fraction, d...
Christopher Chope | 516 c840 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I refer the Committee to the evidence submitted to the Poli...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c840 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure about the constituents of Christchurch, but the constituents of Na h-Eileanan an Iar c...
Christopher Chope | 516 c839-40 (Link to this contribution) Speaking from my personal experience, when I was first lucky enough to get elected to this House in ...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c839 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that the hon. Gentleman is talking about an exact parallel. At an election, there is ...
Greg Knight | 516 c837 (Link to this contribution) If the Committee were to accept my hon. Friend's amendment, would it not mean that the candidate wit...
Christopher Chope | 516 c837-8 (Link to this contribution) That is a defect of all alternative vote systems. One reason I like the first-past-the-post system i...
Pete Wishart | 516 c838 (Link to this contribution) Is not the hon. Gentleman proposing almost a semi-alternative vote, given that it would be a restric...
Christopher Chope | 516 c838 (Link to this contribution) That is what is done in London at the moment, and in mayoral elections in towns and cities the lengt...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c839 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is giving us a lecture on the difference between prescriptive and descriptive gra...
Christopher Chope | 516 c839 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that point. She and I have not colluded on this, but I took the ...
Christopher Chope | 516 c838 (Link to this contribution) Exactly. I agree with the hon. Gentleman and my amendment attempts to mitigate the terms of the Bill...
Graham Stringer | 516 c838 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being absolutely straightforward in saying that he does not really agree with ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c838 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer) made a good point about some people eff...
Christopher Chope | 516 c837 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 62, in clause 7, page 5, leave out lines 9 to 11 and insert
David Winnick | 516 c845 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that it would be wrong to conclude—and I am sure that he is not so ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c845 (Link to this contribution) I said at the outset that I knew that my personal support for the alternative vote was not necessari...
Stuart Bell | 516 c845 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend make clear to the Committee that when he talks of being in favour of a change in...
Chris Bryant | 516 c845 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether my hon. Friend has received another note from Lord Campbell-Savours, but of co...
Chris Bryant | 516 c845 (Link to this contribution) Lord Plant is a very eminent and splendid man who has contributed much to the Labour party and to th...
Stuart Bell | 516 c845 (Link to this contribution) This intervention relates directly to the amendment, Ms Primarolo. I am grateful to Lord Campbell-Sa...
Chris Bryant | 516 c845 (Link to this contribution) A significant difference is that in Australia voting is compulsory. Exactly the same argument could ...
Iain Stewart | 516 c844 (Link to this contribution) Has the hon. Gentleman considered the position in Australia, which operates a form of the alternativ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c844 (Link to this contribution) I would like to ask you, Ms Primarolo, whether you view this as constituting a stand part debate as ...
James Clappison | 516 c844 (Link to this contribution) I have heard the hon. Gentleman's speech so far, although I have not heard all the debate so far. Is...
Chris Bryant | 516 c844 (Link to this contribution) Fine. I just wanted to give notice that we would like a stand part debate when the debate on this am...
Stuart Bell | 516 c844 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making his usual fluent speech with great confidence, but how can he say that this...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c844 (Link to this contribution) Order. I hope that in replying, the hon. Gentleman will not be tempted into a general discussion abo...
Chris Bryant | 516 c844 (Link to this contribution) I am tempted to make a partisan comment about the hon. Gentleman's own political party appealing to ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c842 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are not discussing AV-plus. Can we get back to the amendment? We have a lot of business to...
Christopher Chope | 516 c842 (Link to this contribution) I cannot change my amendment at this stage, and I am not sure that an amendment dealing with AV-plus...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c841 (Link to this contribution) My heart leapt when I saw ““AV variant”” on the selection list, because I though that it might refer...
Chris Bryant | 516 c842-3 (Link to this contribution) No, not at all. If the hon. Gentleman read the clauses and schedules carefully, he would see that th...
Henry Smith | 516 c842 (Link to this contribution) Does not the hon. Gentleman think that there is some scope for confusion among the electorate? If th...
Chris Bryant | 516 c842 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to disappoint the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope), but I shall not support his am...
Christopher Chope | 516 c842 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to you, Ms Primarolo, for trying to ensure that we stick to the amendment. I am a...
Chris Bryant | 516 c843-4 (Link to this contribution) I gave way rather too soon, as that was precisely the point I was about to make. If people decide no...
Graham Stringer | 516 c843 (Link to this contribution) On this technical point, does it not depend on how many second preferences are made or, under the fu...
Christopher Chope | 516 c840 (Link to this contribution) It is indeed. The effect of my amendment would be to adopt the system that Professor Dunleavy descr...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c840 (Link to this contribution) Order. That might be in people's minds, or it might not, but the hon. Gentleman must come back to hi...
Mike Gapes | 516 c841 (Link to this contribution) It is not true to say that there is only one form of AV operating in this country. There are differe...
Christopher Chope | 516 c841 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes a good point, and that subject was going to form my peroration. I tabled ...
Christopher Chope | 516 c841 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has misunderstood the purpose of my amendment. We are talking about alternative v...
Stuart Bell | 516 c841 (Link to this contribution) Would not the hon. Gentleman's proposal put the voters in London in a difficult situation? If all th...
Christopher Chope | 516 c841 (Link to this contribution) That would be the case if the Bill remained unamended, if there were a referendum and if the yes vot...
Joan Ruddock | 516 c914 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very good point and there have been attempts to undertake such work. My local...
Priti Patel | 516 c914 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Lady describe for the Committee the barriers to her local authority having been ...
Joan Ruddock | 516 c914-5 (Link to this contribution) There have been very good results in my local authority area. It removed from the register many name...
Stephen Twigg | 516 c915 (Link to this contribution) One barrier that many local authorities think they face is using other available data sets. Last mon...
Joan Ruddock | 516 c915 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. It is utterly hypocritical of Government Members to accuse the Labour Government of doin...
Nick Boles | 516 c915 (Link to this contribution) Would the right hon. Lady care to tell us when it would be possible to carry out a boundary review, ...
Joan Ruddock | 516 c915 (Link to this contribution) The judgment that the hon. Gentleman makes in saying that Labour seats are smaller is based on numbe...
Stephen Twigg | 516 c915 (Link to this contribution) I think that there is a desire in all parts of the Committee to ensure maximum registration. Is my r...
Joan Ruddock | 516 c915 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that extremely important point, and I hope that it has been heard on the ...
Robert Smith | 516 c915 (Link to this contribution) When the boundaries were drawn last time, how was under-registration taken into account by the Bound...
Joan Ruddock | 516 c915-6 (Link to this contribution) That is a matter for the Boundary Commission; I was not party to its deliberations. I was talking a...
Emily Thornberry | 516 c916 (Link to this contribution) Is not the most important point, and the one to which coalition Members are not listening, that cons...
Joan Ruddock | 516 c916 (Link to this contribution) I agree absolutely. I repeat that those are real people contributing to our communities and living a...
Chris Ruane | 516 c916 (Link to this contribution) In my constituency, the ward of Rhyl West is the poorest ward in the whole of Wales, which has 1,900...
Joan Ruddock | 516 c916 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes a most valuable point. I have already paid tribute to my local auth...
David Heath | 516 c917 (Link to this contribution) I am sure the whole Committee is delighted that we have now reached part 2 of the Bill, which is bas...
Roger Williams | 516 c916 (Link to this contribution) Nobody would disagree with the right hon. Lady that we must make every effort to register everybody ...
David Heath | 516 c918 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the hon. Gentleman, because he has completely demolished whatever case the hon...
Ian Lucas | 516 c918 (Link to this contribution) Does the Parliamentary Secretary recognise that there are four different constitutional settlements ...
David Heath | 516 c918 (Link to this contribution) I know of no constitutional principle that says that voters in Wales should have twice the value of ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c917 (Link to this contribution) I have already made it absolutely clear in the debate that I believe that there should be greater eq...
David Heath | 516 c917-8 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman accepts the principle that votes should be equalised, he disguised it well in ...
Owen Smith | 516 c918 (Link to this contribution) I listened to the Boundary Commission's evidence to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committe...
Ian Lucas | 516 c918 (Link to this contribution) The Parliamentary Secretary should recognise that the relationship between Wales and England is an h...
David Heath | 516 c919 (Link to this contribution) There we have the paucity of the argument for the defence. This is not about the historic and cultur...
David Heath | 516 c919 (Link to this contribution) I will of course be led by you, Mr Hoyle, on what it is appropriate to deal with on this group of am...
Mark Tami | 516 c919 (Link to this contribution) The Parliamentary Secretary was asked a straightforward question earlier. If he believes in equalisa...
Luciana Berger | 516 c872 (Link to this contribution) Contrary to the evidence offered by the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell), my hon. Fri...
Chris Bryant | 516 c871 (Link to this contribution) I have seen the report and I agree with some elements of it. I agree with the bits that agree with m...
Lord Barwell | 516 c871 (Link to this contribution) Has the hon. Gentleman seen the report by the British Academy entitled, ““Drawing a New Constituency...
Chris Bryant | 516 c871 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that in majoritarian systems, there is a disproportionate benefit for parti...
Lord Barwell | 516 c872 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's honest answer to my question, and I do not mean to be unhelpf...
Chris Bryant | 516 c872 (Link to this contribution) I happened to see that programme, and it helps my argument, so I am quite happy to refer to it.
Lord Barwell | 516 c872 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman must do a little better in explaining why he does not accept that analysis. If, a...
Chris Bryant | 516 c868 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 127, page 6, leave out line 35 and insert—
Mark Harper | 516 c868 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to get into what may or may not be an offence. The hon. Gentleman may well be right. ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c869-70 (Link to this contribution) I presume that once we have been through the amendments, we might then have a clause stand part deba...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c868-9 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Pete Wishart | 516 c871 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman believe that it is right that the boundaries be redrawn, whether in three ye...
Chris Bryant | 516 c871 (Link to this contribution) Obviously I would love Labour to secure every single seat in Scotland, but I think the hon. Gentlema...
Pete Wishart | 516 c871 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly what I contend. It takes many fewer electors in Scotland to elect a Labour MP than o...
Clive Betts | 516 c911 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a good point; the information that he has given the Committee about the gre...
Paul Blomfield | 516 c911 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for making that point, because it highlights the particular difficulty of usi...
Simon Hughes | 516 c911-2 (Link to this contribution) I wanted to make a couple of brief comments, even before I was provoked by the hon. Member for Swans...
Simon Hughes | 516 c912 (Link to this contribution) I am going to be brief, because the debate is time-limited until 11 pm, but I will give way.
Emily Thornberry | 516 c912 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in Islington we had the second-worst voter registration rate in the...
Simon Hughes | 516 c912 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady had been present a few minutes ago, she would have heard that point made by one of ...
Simon Hughes | 516 c912 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not going to get into a big debate. I address my comments to my ministerial friends, and th...
Chris Ruane | 516 c912 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Owen Smith | 516 c912 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Simon Hughes | 516 c912 (Link to this contribution) No. The hon. Gentleman has intervened often.
Joan Ruddock | 516 c913-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mrs Laing) spoke passionately and ended with words to the effect ...
Simon Hughes | 516 c912-3 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. I am keen that we do with registration this autumn. I have a second proposition. The de...
Chris Ruane | 516 c914 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend think that one way around that problem is to employ local people who are t...
Paul Blomfield | 516 c911 (Link to this contribution) Obviously, we would all like to see better electoral registration. The point is that we know there a...
Henry Smith | 516 c910 (Link to this contribution) Is not the answer to the problem better individual electoral registration rather than playing around...
Paul Blomfield | 516 c910 (Link to this contribution) I accept that point and add that taking the electoral register in the December of any year in a cons...
Daniel Kawczynski | 516 c910 (Link to this contribution) Take your hand out of your pocket when you address the Chamber.
Paul Blomfield | 516 c910 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for any offence that I have caused the hon. Gentleman, but I think it would be more usef...
Paul Blomfield | 516 c910 (Link to this contribution) Amendment 125 takes the census as one source of information, but there are and have been fairly well...
Chris Ruane | 516 c910 (Link to this contribution) On that point, electoral registration officers can calculate the eligible population in each ward in...
Gavin Williamson | 516 c910 (Link to this contribution) We all accept that the information that comes from local authorities about the electoral roll is not...
Paul Blomfield | 516 c909-10 (Link to this contribution) I was not aware of that. I am grateful to have been informed and I am not at all surprised. As I sai...
Mark Tami | 516 c910 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that even when one or two people in a household are on the register, one o...
Paul Blomfield | 516 c910 (Link to this contribution) I accept that point entirely. On the calculation of unregistered households in my constituency, I es...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c908-9 (Link to this contribution) No. The hon. Gentleman has not been in Committee all evening, and it is time that we got on; this de...
Paul Blomfield | 516 c909 (Link to this contribution) If this Bill passes, we will make the most significant reduction in parliamentary representation sin...
Pete Wishart | 516 c909 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. Given the depressing statistics that he has...
Paul Blomfield | 516 c909 (Link to this contribution) The previous Labour Government did a great deal. Much of the responsibility for execution, of course...
Lord Barwell | 516 c902 (Link to this contribution) That cuts to the point of one of the amendments, which deals with the frequency with which we carry ...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 516 c902 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the difficulty in the past 15 or 20 years has been that the Boundary ...
Geraint Davies | 516 c902 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Barwell | 516 c902 (Link to this contribution) I will give way once more to my predecessor.
Geraint Davies | 516 c902-3 (Link to this contribution) The point I was trying to make, which I think has been misrepresented by the new hon. Member for Cro...
Lord Barwell | 516 c903 (Link to this contribution) I take that point, but my response would be that, rather than using figures that are guesstimates, w...
Lord Barwell | 516 c903 (Link to this contribution) I am going to conclude my speech now; I have taken a number of interventions, and I promised that I ...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c903-4 (Link to this contribution) I rise to speak—briefly, I hope—in support of amendment 127. I gather from my hon. Friend the Member...
Graham Stringer | 516 c899-900 (Link to this contribution) I have not come to that point yet, but there is an overlap. Some recent immigrants are Commonwealth ...
Lord Barwell | 516 c900-1 (Link to this contribution) I take your point, Mr Bayley, but some of the amendments in the group are also about the need for sp...
Chris Ruane | 516 c901 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Barwell | 516 c900 (Link to this contribution) The group of amendments that the Committee is being asked to consider poses the Government three que...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c900 (Link to this contribution) Order. I must encourage the hon. Gentleman to get on to the question of registration and under-regis...
Chris Ruane | 516 c901 (Link to this contribution) I think that that is a question about registration, so I can certainly address it. It has always bee...
Stephen Pound | 516 c901-2 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for interrupting the hon. Gentleman, because he is making a coherent and cogent case. I ...
Lord Barwell | 516 c901 (Link to this contribution) I am nervous about being drawn back into what I have just been told to move off, but I will give way...
Chris Ruane | 516 c901 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the information I have received from research by the Library shows ...
Lord Barwell | 516 c902 (Link to this contribution) Well, there we go. The hon. Gentleman is suggesting, with his customary eloquence, that we go even f...
Chris Ruane | 516 c907 (Link to this contribution) I have just mentioned individual registration. We all know what it is about: it is about driving a f...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c906-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Austin Mitchell) has just given the game away. He has at last rev...
Chris Bryant | 516 c907 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady knows that I respect her views in many regards, but I would find it phenomenally diffi...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c907 (Link to this contribution) It is not; on the contrary, in fact. The last Government, with the support of the then Conservative ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c908 (Link to this contribution) I recall the point being raised in the Select Committee, but I am afraid that I disagree with the ho...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c908 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has brought before the House many matters that have arisen from pe...
Stephen Pound | 516 c908 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for nobly offering, in a way that is typical of her, to support my special ple...
Tristram Hunt | 516 c908 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady recall, as I do, the evidence that we received on the Political and Constitutiona...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c904 (Link to this contribution) Well, it is quite simple. The alliance wants its redistribution completed before the election in 201...
Chris Ruane | 516 c904 (Link to this contribution) Why does my hon. Friend think the Con-Dem alliance is in such haste?
Austin Mitchell | 516 c905-6 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman is trying to outdo my comic turn by putting me in the House...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c905 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The present system of redistribution was devised by the Conserva...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 516 c905 (Link to this contribution) As ever, the hon. Gentleman is a comic turn. Does he agree, however, that he was not so voluble when...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c905 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. My hon. Friend has put the case much more articulately and better than I could have, so ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c905 (Link to this contribution) The position is actually slightly worse than it was portrayed by our friend from the SDLP, the hon. ...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c904 (Link to this contribution) I was intending to plough on with my own Blitzkrieg, but I am happy to give way.
Mark Durkan | 516 c904-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way following that mixed metaphor. I will take it no further. Doe...
Lord Mann | 516 c896 (Link to this contribution) The vast majority of first-year students are registered where they were living with their parents, a...
Andrew George | 516 c896 (Link to this contribution) It is an important case in point. As I understand it, students can register in more than one locatio...
Andrew Love | 516 c896 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Andrew George | 516 c896 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has placed his point on the record, and I wish to move on. My primary point is t...
Andrew George | 516 c895 (Link to this contribution) I will gave way one more time, but I want to bring my remarks to a close.
Dan Rogerson | 516 c895 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has a long record of pointing out anomalies with regard to second homes, and he knows...
Andrew George | 516 c895 (Link to this contribution) I would be straying beyond the limits of this debate if I discussed compulsion in registration, but ...
Elfyn Llwyd | 516 c896 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman regard the student vote in the same way?
Andrew George | 516 c896 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for clarifying that point of electoral law, which needs to be emphas...
Andrew George | 516 c895 (Link to this contribution) I agree. It may be a function of a change of staff or of the resources of the local authority and ho...
Mark Tami | 516 c894 (Link to this contribution) Some local authorities are clearly better than others at raising registration levels. Does the hon. ...
Andrew George | 516 c894 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. I argue further that any Member of Parliament who does the...
Chris Ruane | 516 c894 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that list of people who are under-represented or not registered. Does...
Stephen Twigg | 516 c892 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a persuasive case for his amendment. Does he agree that the Government have ack...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c893 (Link to this contribution) Order. This debate is about the question of registration or under-registration and the hon. Gentlema...
Andrew George | 516 c893 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Swansea West (Geraint Davies), who covered all aspect...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 516 c899 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way with his customary generosity, but he fails to recognise t...
Graham Stringer | 516 c899 (Link to this contribution) I agree. The accurate word is ““evading”” not ““avoiding””. I stand corrected. If people are evading...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 516 c898 (Link to this contribution) I am puzzled that the hon. Gentleman agrees with the suggestion that a Member of Parliament who know...
Graham Stringer | 516 c898 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend and I have similar experiences in Blackley and Broughton.
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c899 (Link to this contribution) If somebody lives in a house and is partaking of the services provided by the local authority, and i...
Graham Stringer | 516 c899 (Link to this contribution) As far as I can see, the hon. Gentleman has not been in the Chamber for most of the debate. I ask hi...
Stephen Pound | 516 c898 (Link to this contribution) I think that the House is at one with my hon. Friend on that particular point—[Laughter.] Like me, ...
Graham Stringer | 516 c898 (Link to this contribution) Unfortunately, I think that my hon. Friend may have encouraged the hon. Member for Bermondsey and Ol...
Graham Stringer | 516 c898 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point about the numbers—
Geraint Davies | 516 c898 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend may be interested to note that the hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simo...
Graham Stringer | 516 c898 (Link to this contribution) I would not use the word ““coup””, but I would use the word ““gerrymandering””. In fact, a double ge...
Chris Ruane | 516 c897-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend says that 3.5 million people are missing from the register, but the Government announ...
Graham Stringer | 516 c897 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes his point well and I am sure the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Gr...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 516 c897 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that there would be support from the Democratic Unionist party and, I...
Graham Stringer | 516 c897 (Link to this contribution) I would be happy to vote for amendments 341 and 342. Although the mechanisms would be different, the...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c896 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. Does he think I should seek to divide the Committee on ...
Graham Stringer | 516 c896 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland) made some general, profound comments on the t...
Andrew George | 516 c896 (Link to this contribution) I will not any more. The Boundary Commission should be given discretion over the matter, because th...
Andrew Love | 516 c892 (Link to this contribution) If we were to take the Government's intentions seriously, would they not be building on the Politica...
Geraint Davies | 516 c892 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I certainly do. Obviously there are issues about literacy—about being able to read—language, an...
Geraint Davies | 516 c891 (Link to this contribution) Thank you very much, Mr. Bayley. The amendment is about the relationship between the number of peop...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 516 c892 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Member believe that the registration forms are too complex and need to be simplified t...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c891 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are straying rather far from the point that we are supposed to be debating—the registratio...
Geraint Davies | 516 c890-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very interesting and important point. Wales is a nation of just 3 million peo...
Tristram Hunt | 516 c891 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very persuasive case. Do the measures in the Bill not suggest that there is n...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c890 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind the hon. Gentleman that interventions are supposed to be quite short.
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c889 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being extremely gallant in giving way, because I have to answer the point made...
Owen Smith | 516 c890 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentions devolution. Does he agree that the Bill being railroaded through to try to f...
Geraint Davies | 516 c889-90 (Link to this contribution) That was a strange intervention on my speech. The case that one would want to make is that we have a...
Geraint Davies | 516 c888 (Link to this contribution) Clearly, we all want to encourage individual responsibility, and I think that there is an individual...
Lord Mann | 516 c888 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a compelling case. Of course, in coalfield communities, in particular, sign...
Geraint Davies | 516 c888-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a compelling point. In many cases, the individual who has not been educated has...
Susan Elan Jones | 516 c889 (Link to this contribution) On the point about individual responsibility, does my hon. Friend agree that there is an individual ...
Geraint Davies | 516 c887 (Link to this contribution) That is unfortunate and surprising. If one were cynical about it, one would say that the Conservativ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c888 (Link to this contribution) We have been having the argument about registration across the Floor of the House for many years. Do...
Geraint Davies | 516 c887 (Link to this contribution) I should certainly like to help the hon. Gentleman on that point. What the amendment actually says i...
Greg Hands | 516 c887 (Link to this contribution) I am following the hon. Gentleman's argument, I think, but does he think that there is an easy way t...
Geraint Davies | 516 c886-7 (Link to this contribution) Amendment 125 suggests that instead of using the register of voters for calculating the relative siz...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c886 (Link to this contribution) I am starting to worry that my acting as a tourism officer for Leeds North West may attract an undue...
Tristram Hunt | 516 c887 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend as surprised as I was by the fact that the Government do not seem committed to put...
Geraint Davies | 516 c885 (Link to this contribution) May I extend the hon. Gentleman's point a little? Does he accept that in the event of gradual migrat...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c885 (Link to this contribution) I am willing to do so, although I suspect that you may not allow it, Mr Bayley. It is up to you to d...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c885-6 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for giving way a third time. I had no intention of interrupting...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c885 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman visited my constituency, he would understand why people not only would not wan...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c884 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made a good point. I am amazed that the reality of boundary changes is being acce...
Dan Rogerson | 516 c884 (Link to this contribution) Some Members may not be aware of the knock-on effects on constituencies. The hon. Member for Isle of...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c885 (Link to this contribution) I take issue with the sentiment expressed by the hon. Gentleman. We must stop this being a partisan,...
Owen Smith | 516 c885 (Link to this contribution) Is not the reason why so many Government Members seem to have failed to notice that the Bill will ha...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c885 (Link to this contribution) It sounds to me as though the hon. Gentleman is thinking of his self-interest. My point is that that...
Pete Wishart | 516 c885 (Link to this contribution) We are getting to the heart of the debate now. This is what it is all about. As the hon. Gentleman h...
Andrew Turner | 516 c883 (Link to this contribution) The problem at the first redrawing would be one of the massive reconstruction of the whole country. ...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c883 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, but the hon. Gentleman makes my point because that huge initial change should not be rushed ...
Naomi Long | 516 c883-4 (Link to this contribution) Another issue that has not been discussed in relation to changing boundaries more regularly is that ...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c884 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady reminds us that there are indeed many complications stemming from devolution in the th...
Chris Bryant | 516 c881 (Link to this contribution) Not only that, but there has been absolutely no pre-legislative scrutiny. In particular—
Chris Bryant | 516 c881-2 (Link to this contribution) Many thanks, Mr Gale. I was trying to argue that the Government want to move with precipitate haste...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c881 (Link to this contribution) Order. So far as I can see, we have debated most of clause 8 and a chunk of clause 9, and we are now...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c883 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Lady must be the only person in the Chamber who could possibly regard what I have s...
Lord Mann | 516 c883 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making the sensible case for equalisation rather than the illogical case for i...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c883 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but let me make it clear again that I support the p...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c882 (Link to this contribution) I must start by saying that I did not know that the word ““majoritarian”” existed until now, so, as ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c882 (Link to this contribution) I understand what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but he must accept that those boundary changes were ...
Greg Mulholland | 516 c882 (Link to this contribution) Forgive me, but I do not think the hon. Lady has been listening to my comments very well, because I ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c882-3 (Link to this contribution) I was listening to what the hon. Gentleman was saying, and I am still listening, but he is contradic...
Chris Bryant | 516 c879 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend, now the Member for Swansea West, is right, in the sense that the level of registrati...
Andrew Love | 516 c881 (Link to this contribution) Is not the most iniquitous thing about this Bill that there has been no attempt to seek cross-party ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c880 (Link to this contribution) That is true. Most local authorities are having to make fairly substantial cuts at the moment, and m...
Greg Hands | 516 c881 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman defending the status quo? Under the current system, we typically have boundary...
Chris Bryant | 516 c880 (Link to this contribution) In a sense, the hon. Lady makes my point for me. Registration in her constituency may be at 98%, but...
Mark Tami | 516 c880 (Link to this contribution) I totally agree with the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Heather Wheeler). However, that is the po...
Chris Bryant | 516 c879 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point. There is no reason why the census should not be able to engage in...
Heather Wheeler | 516 c880 (Link to this contribution) I find this conversation difficult, because we have electoral registration officers whose job it is ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c877-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right in a sense, although I expect that the under-registration in his constit...
Geraint Davies | 516 c879 (Link to this contribution) I want to follow on from the point about under-registration. The response to the hon. Member for Cro...
Lord Barwell | 516 c878 (Link to this contribution) The problem that the hon. Gentleman is trying to explain occurs under the current rules. There are p...
Chris Bryant | 516 c878 (Link to this contribution) I am terribly sorry, but I missed the hon. Gentleman's point.
Lord Barwell | 516 c878 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman made the point that, if we go for greater electoral equality, we will have seats ...
Lord Barwell | 516 c878 (Link to this contribution) Yes, there are seats at the moment that cross regional boundaries. The seat of Brigg and Goole is in...
Chris Bryant | 516 c878 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure who is giving way to whom now. The hon. Gentleman makes a point, and it sounds like he...
Chris Bryant | 516 c878-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. The pattern of under-registration is different in different p...
Chris Bryant | 516 c877 (Link to this contribution) I completely and utterly disagree with the hon. Lady. Of course one ought to strive towards equality...
Greg Hands | 516 c877 (Link to this contribution) May I return to the earlier point about urban under-registration, because it is an important point i...
Chris Bryant | 516 c876 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. There are many reasons why electoral registration is so low in certain comm...
Graham Stringer | 516 c876 (Link to this contribution) Several interventions ago my hon. Friend was destroying the complacency of the hon. Member for Chelt...
Chris Bryant | 516 c876 (Link to this contribution) That is certainly true. Should the boundary commissions start from the south of England and work the...
Mark Tami | 516 c876 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will be aware that in Wales we are looking at county council boundaries, which is cau...
Chris Bryant | 516 c876-7 (Link to this contribution) Although you said it with a wry smile, Mr Gale, you make an eminently sane point. My hon. Friend th...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c877 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is missing the point. The point is that all Members of the House elected to take ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c876 (Link to this contribution) Order. The Front-Bench spokesman asked whether there would be a stand part debate. As is generally k...
Chris Bryant | 516 c875 (Link to this contribution) That smacked a little of ““I'm all right, Jack”” to me. The problem is not only what happens in Glou...
Martin Horwood | 516 c875 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman may be overestimating the complexity of this task. Gloucestershire has six MPs an...
Chris Bryant | 516 c875 (Link to this contribution) That is the sort of thing that makes sheer nonsense of the situation. Indeed, I believe that someone...
Luciana Berger | 516 c875 (Link to this contribution) Unlike in Gloucestershire, we have just over 30,000 households in Liverpool that are not on the regi...
Chris Bryant | 516 c874 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I know that they have said that, and of course they would say that, wouldn't they? If they are ...
Chris Bryant | 516 c874 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. The Electoral Reform Society has produced two versions of what might happen in Wales with a ...
Andrew Love | 516 c874 (Link to this contribution) Surely the important factor is not what the boundary commissions think, but what the public will mak...
Chris Bryant | 516 c875 (Link to this contribution) I presumed that the hon. Lady would speak with some authority, as she is a member of the Speaker's C...
Naomi Long | 516 c875 (Link to this contribution) The speed with which this will have to be done and the fact that the public inquiries will be dispen...
Lord Barwell | 516 c873 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way to me a third time. I completely agree with his a...
Chris Bryant | 516 c873 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes precisely the point that I have laboriously tried to make, and far more succinc...
Chris Bryant | 516 c872-3 (Link to this contribution) I enjoyed the hon. Gentleman's pronunciation of the word ““renders””, but other than that, I am not ...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 516 c872 (Link to this contribution) The reason why parties or people do well in a majoritarian system when they get more than 40% of the...
Chris Bryant | 516 c872 (Link to this contribution) There are a lot of misconceptions in relation to the supposed benefits or otherwise of the system to...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c874 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the representatives of the boundary commissions for each part of th...
Chris Bryant | 516 c873-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has been making extremely sensible remarks on such issues ever since he and I were at...
Ian Lucas | 516 c873 (Link to this contribution) One factor that needs to be taken into consideration is that the United Kingdom is made of four dist...
Chris Bryant | 516 c873 (Link to this contribution) I have said several times already in the course of these debates that there should be a greater driv...
Speaker | 516 c832 (Link to this contribution) Order. There is a problem with regard to timing. There is some doubt as to whether eight minutes hav...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c844 (Link to this contribution) I do not consider this to be a stand part debate because the amendment is very narrow. Members shoul...
Greg Knight | 516 c840 (Link to this contribution) Listening to my hon. Friend, I have reached the conclusion that the strongest argument in favour of ...
Simon Hughes | 516 c912 (Link to this contribution) No, not now. We need to work across parties, with all parties, to ensure that in every constituency...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 516 c908 (Link to this contribution) Of course the hon. Gentleman is right. First, I do support his special pleading to IPSA. Secondly, I...
Andrew George | 516 c893-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to you, Mr Bayley, for your guidance. As you will notice, my amendment states:"““This ...
Geraint Davies | 516 c892 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely right. The failure to provide the necessary resources and the fact that the deadli...
Geraint Davies | 516 c889 (Link to this contribution) I certainly think that more resources need to be put in. More people need to be registered and to pa...
Luciana Berger | 516 c879 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend believe that the forthcoming census, which comes only a few months after the arb...
Joan Ruddock | 516 c916-7 (Link to this contribution) I am not at all. I am talking about the equal worth of people who are eligible to be registered but ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 516 c919 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think that we are going wide of the mark and the Deputy Leader of the House is being dragge...
Austin Mitchell | 516 c855 (Link to this contribution) What if an elector makes two Xs; will that ballot be discarded?
Mark Harper | 516 c849 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful, Ms Primarolo. I think my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch wanted to intervene....
Chris Ruane | 516 c909 (Link to this contribution) Talking of Liberal Democrat councils, is my hon. Friend aware of the previous Liberal leader of Isli...
Chris Ruane | 516 c895 (Link to this contribution) Speaking from experience, Gareth Evans, the electoral registration officer in Denbighshire in my con...
Geraint Davies | 516 c892-3 (Link to this contribution) That is right. The amendment proposes that the estimates should be put together by the Office for Na...
Chris Bryant | 516 c881 (Link to this contribution) I think that I am correct in saying that that system was set up by the previous Conservative Governm...
Andrew George | 516 c878 (Link to this contribution) Further to the intervention from the hon. Member for Chelsea and Fulham (Greg Hands) about adopting ...
Nicholas Dakin | 516 c875 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that if we are doing a jigsaw with 600 pieces instead of 650 pieces, every...
Graham Stringer | 516 c873 (Link to this contribution) We can try to work out how many votes it takes to elect a Scottish National party MP or a Labour MP,...

Subjects

Boundary commissions
Constituency size
Alternative vote
Electoral register
General elections
Referendums
Voting methods
Reform
Reviews

Legislation

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill 2010-12

Link

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