My Lords, after a long debate on a substantive issue, this will probably be a rather shorter, more technical debate. First, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Collins of Highbury, from the Labour Front Bench, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, from the Greens, for supporting the amendment to delete Clause 19 in Committee. I am also grateful to the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord True, and his team for engaging on this issue of accounting for election expenditure in constituencies. The Government’s position appears to be that no change in law is proposed. I therefore think that Clause 19 is unnecessary. The
Government say that it is about clarification, but I think this has been provided by the courts and that guidance from the Electoral Commission—provided it remains independent—should suffice.
The Government blame confusion about the rules for election spending in constituencies for the prosecution of the Conservative candidate, the Conservative agent and a senior Conservative HQ staff member following the campaign in South Thanet during the 2015 general election. However, it does not address the widespread concern after that election that the basic principles of the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883, which first provided a level playing field in constituency election campaigns, were being subverted in that election.
5.15 pm
The origins of Clause 19 are in a Private Member’s Bill introduced by that Conservative candidate in that election and which the Electoral Commission advised
“would risk allowing parties to spend what they like (subject to their national limits) on promoting their candidates in key marginal seats”.
I think the clause is unnecessary because Southwark Crown Court acquitted the candidate and the agent, maintaining the simple principle that they could not be held responsible for what they were not responsible. But the Conservative campaign headquarters was held to be responsible for massive overspending in support of the Conservative candidate and a senior party official received a significant sentence.
Today, I seek significant assurances from the Minister that what is described as a clarification is not an attempt to make legal what was deemed illegal by Southwark Crown Court. Parliament must not be seen to give a nod and a wink to reversing the principle of the level playing field in constituency campaigns—a principle that was reaffirmed in the Representation of the People Act 1983. In his judgment on the case at Southwark Crown Court, Mr Justice Edis said that the existing law
“exists to ensure a level playing field and also to limit the extent to which the electorate can be manipulated by costly and sophisticated systems designed to spread a message on behalf of a candidate in a Parliamentary election.”
If we are to accept Clause 19, I would like the Minister to confirm that we are not supporting any change to that principle.
Two years ago, the Minister’s predecessor, the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, confirmed that the Government accepted that the principle of a level playing field, as set out in the original 1883 legislation, is “timeless”. Is this still the Government’s policy? Do they accept the conclusions of Southwark Crown Court, which tested election law on these issues, or do they seek to overturn the decision about what was found to be illegal? Depending on the Minister’s response, I may wish to test the opinion of the House. I beg to move.