Representation of the People Bill (First sitting)

Andrew Lewin Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Public Bill Committees

[Lisa Smart]

Q So the position of the Electoral Reform Society would be that a change to a more proportionate system would better reflect the current situation and would improve trust in politics?

Dr Garland: And give more stability and predictability to our electoral outcomes.

[Andrew Lewin (Welwyn Hatfield) (Lab)]

Q Good morning, Dr Garland. We had a sharp fall in turnout at the last general election, and we have already spoken this morning about 8 million people not being registered. I support the principle of automatic voter registration, but I am keen to talk in a little bit more detail about how we would pilot this, because the Bill makes provision for pilots. I am interested in your take on what information we would need to undergo a pilot, and how quickly that could be established and up and running.

Dr Garland: As we heard earlier, timing is absolutely key. We need to get a move on and implement these things. In terms of the pilots, it would be really good to have a broad range of areas and datasets to look at. Ultimately, the goal has to be, “Can we find those missing millions?” We know that the 8 million missing off the register are not evenly distributed, and that certain groups are much less likely to be registered. Those are young people and people who move home more frequently—renters, for instance. I would like to see that looked at carefully, so with whatever data we get from pilots, we should ask, “Are we getting those people on the register?” Ultimately, that has to be the goal.

There are other benefits, such as making things easier for electoral registration officers. Cost savings are likely to come out of it as well, but the core has to be, “What is going to have the most coverage?” That could be a combination of automatic voter registration and assisted forms of registration, which is your motor voter-type thing, where you are prompted to vote with other services. I know that the Government are looking at that, and I welcome that very strongly. Whatever we can do to find those 8 million missing people and get them on the register in time for the next general election will do wonders.

[The Chair]

We have eight minutes, so short questions and short answers, please.