Wales Bill
Debate between Chris Bryant and Jonathan Evans(10 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)
May I suggest to my hon. Friend that it is not so much a back door as a cat flap? You can not only go in through the cat flap but you can withdraw without the need for a by-election if you are on the list rather than being a constituency MP.
Welsh Grand Committee (Scrutiny)
Debate between Chris Bryant and Jonathan Evans(14 years ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Jonathan Evans (Cardiff North) (Con)
I wanted to contribute to the debate primarily because when I was listening to the parliamentary stages of the Bill, I heard the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), whom I am pleased to see in the Chamber, offer the observation that all Members of Parliament from Wales shared concerns about the legislation. I would like to put on the record that I am an enthusiastic supporter of the legislation.
Jonathan Evans
We heard enough from the hon. Gentleman during the parliamentary stages of the legislation.
In Wales, we have a distorted voting system and a situation in which the Labour party, with 36% of the vote, has 65% of the seats. Anything that is done to change that voting system threatens the position of the Labour party.