Ellie Reeves
Main Page: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)Department Debates - View all Ellie Reeves's debates with the Cabinet Office
(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Dame Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)
Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)
Zarah Sultana (Coventry South) (Lab)
Ellie Reeves [V]
The Bromley wards in my constituency were part of a voter ID pilot in 2018 and the council’s own figures suggest that 154 people were turned away from polling stations because of the requirement for ID. If this was scaled up nationally the overall number of those disfranchised would be huge, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission says it would disproportionately impact ethnic minority communities and older people, yet there were only 33 allegations of voter personation at the 2019 general election. Can the Minister not see the huge disparity here?
Michael Gove
The hon. Lady makes an important point. It is incumbent on local authorities like her excellent local authority in Lewisham to work to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to vote. I should say, because her question gives me an opportunity to do so, that in recent local elections, not just for the London Assembly and the London Mayor but across the country, those who work in local government—returning officers and others—did a sterling job in challenging circumstances, and I know that as we introduce reforms to ensure the integrity of the ballot, local authorities such as hers will be at the forefront of delivering those changes.