Security of Candidates, MPs and Elections

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

There are two important responses to that question. We are taking forward legislation to extend disqualification orders to protect electoral staff and ensure that those who abuse them can be disqualified from standing for or holding elected office, and we are empowering courts to hand out tougher sentences to people who abuse. As I have said, the Government have also introduced legislation to restrict protests outside the homes of public officeholders. So we are strengthening the law in this regard. With regard to the police, the concern that emerged from the Speaker’s Conference, which we will address in our response, is the consistency of responses between different police forces, and that will be a very important priority as this work unfolds.

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con)]

My Lords, total security of candidates and MPs can never be achieved, no matter how many new laws the Government introduce. Most concerning is the recommendation, in the report of the Speaker’s Conference, that the police should investigate non-crime incidents towards MPs and candidates. We have been here before with non-crime hate incidents. We know what a terrible idea they were. Can the Minister confirm that the Government will not move forward with plans for the recording of non-crime incidents, no matter who they are directed towards?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

The important message that I have for your Lordships is that we too have a role in dealing with this problem. An important aspect of our role is to make sure that incidents which might seem trivial or short-lived at the time are properly reported. We should all be aware of our responsibilities. The police cannot form a proper picture of the extent or nature of the problem without that level of intelligence gathering. Therefore, I cannot entirely agree with the noble Lord. We will not exclude certain types of information being reported to the police; on the contrary, it is the duty of all of us to ensure that all incidents are reported to the police in the proper way.