General Election: Postal Voting Fraud

Debate between Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen and Baroness Warsi

Thursday 4th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

My Lords, as is known, the Government do not get involved in Select Committees, so that is not a point for me to answer here.

[Baroness Warsi (Con)]

My Lords, I would not want to refer my noble friend to the case of the Tower Hamlets mayoral election, but could she write to me, if she cannot answer me today, about whether the Government’s understanding of the law in relation to undue spiritual influence is clear? Can the Government be sure that the law in relation to undue spiritual influence at the time of elections is being consistently applied across different religious communities?

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

My Lords, I will certainly get back to my noble friend on that question. The Government consider tackling electoral fraud to be a very high priority and they believe that more needs to be done to safeguard the integrity of elections. Indeed, this will certainly be looked into in the future with the Electoral Commission.