Local Elections (Ordinary Day of Elections in 2014) Order 2013

Lord McKenzie of Luton Excerpts

Wednesday 24th July 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Golding]

My Lords, I have been an election agent for some 40 years. This is not something that we have not done in the past, and it is something that we should manage quite well in future. I have managed five elections at the same time, in different areas of a constituency, so I know the complications. However, any good election agent should be able to manage this. The only difficulty I have ever encountered is in the division and declaration of expenses. Will there be advice for election agents on the way to divide up expenses?

[Lord McKenzie of Luton]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for explaining the order. As he will know, the Labour Party responded to the consultation and supported the combination of elections. In 2004 and 2009, we similarly required the local elections to be combined with elections to the European Parliament. Therefore, it would be odd if we did anything other than support the order, particularly given the Minister’s point about the short period between the planned dates.

The supportive comments as set down in the Explanatory Notes are ones that we broadly endorse. We note that the order has the support of the Electoral Commission, the LGA, SOLACE, the Electoral Reform Society and the Association of Electoral Administrators. We are in good company. As the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, explained, the Lib Dems have no objections either. I was delighted that the noble Lord took the opportunity to avoid any confusion over his possible role as an election agent. I am sure that that will save the Labour Party a great deal of time. I was interested to hear the noble Lord’s comments on UKIP. We will have to see. My noble friend Lady Golding made the point that we have done it in the past and it would be odd if we could not support the order today, which we do. My noble friend has raised an important point around the declaration of expenses.

The point has been made that returning officers and local authorities are now experienced in having more than one election on the same day. The research for the commission shows that the public, too, can cope with multiple elections even where there is more than one voting system in play. We note that the commission plans to encompass the combination of polls in its public awareness campaign, and we of course support this and believe that it is very important. I do not think that I will attempt to trouble the Minister further. We support this order.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed, particularly the noble Lord, Lord Greaves. The noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, also noted his great concern for both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. However, we rise to the challenge, and if it is UKIP or anyone else, if I may get political for a moment, I say, “Bring it on; we will see you during the election”.

I have a couple of brief points in response to some of the comments. It is also important for the record, when comparing statistics on voter turnout, to note that in 2006—which I remember well, as someone who was then elected to a local authority—we were very concerned about the low voter turnout. We then saw a voter turnout of 37%. This contrasts with 2010, when there was a double-header and it was held with the general election, with a voter turnout of 62.6%. At a time when we need to encourage more people to exercise their right to vote, it is useful to see that when we have combined elections it has resulted in a higher voter turnout.

A small point was raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Golding, about electoral agents. Of course, I bow to her great expertise and experience across the field with the elections she has managed. Of course, there will be specific advice from the Electoral Commission on all relevant matters.

I once again thank all noble Lords who have participated in the debate.