Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill

Lord Mott Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 5th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mott (Con)]

My Lords, as someone who has spent the vast majority of their career helping to run election campaigns across the UK, I add my support to this common-sense technical legislation. It makes no sense that a voter in Scotland and Wales can apply online for a postal or proxy vote in a UK parliamentary general election but the same voter cannot do the same for local elections, when they could do so if they lived in England. This Bill will resolve that. Bringing the identity check requirements in line with other elections at which online applications for absent voting can currently be made is also sensible. I note there is both cross-party support and Electoral Commission backing for these changes. I expect this legislation to pass without controversy and, as other noble Lords have said, I hope it passes quickly.

However, while all this is welcome, it is a very minor tweak. I take this opportunity briefly to spotlight a broader concern, as already highlighted by my noble friend Lord Hayward. There are currently 100 pieces of electoral legislation and likely thousands of pages of guidance to try to explain it. The Law Commission has described the current system as “complex”. Such complexity does not serve to increase or improve democratic engagement. Indeed, it leads to areas of uncertainty. This means that even the most professional political parties and well-trained professional agents may run the risk of falling foul of the law through no fault of their own. Our politics and the way we campaign are now changing at pace. The House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the Electoral Commission have all raised similar concerns. The Minister will be pleased to know that I do not propose to set out my views today on how the law should be reshaped, but I believe it is long overdue a full overhaul to consolidate and simplify electoral law very soon.